


Steven at Sea City High

by lizzyleefree



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Coming of Age, Eventual Romance, F/M, High School, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2019-11-15 23:25:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18082964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizzyleefree/pseuds/lizzyleefree
Summary: Steven decides to go to high school. The Homeworld threat is neutralized. The Diamonds are actually acknowledging that he's not his mom. The gems have reluctantly admitted that he needs more human interaction outside his little bubble (pun intended).  What better time to actually experience what it's like to be a normal teenager? He follows Connie to a bigger school the next city over, where people don't know his gem identity. He tries to keep it that way so people don't treat him any differently, and also so he feels like one of the cool super heroes with a secret identity in his comics. However, keeping this secret proves difficult as Steven is kind of a weird kid. Saving the world is one thing, but how will Steven memorize Mitochondria facts while also standing up to bullies without summoning his shield?





	1. A Whole New Donut

“Is Connie home, Dr. Maheswaran? There’s a new donut that came out at the Big Donut, and I DONUT want to try it without her!”

The tired physician stared at the boy.

“Eh? Ehhhh?” he said, trying to elicit some reaction to his joke.

“Sit down please, Steven,” she said.

The boy smiled and plopped himself on her couch, “Thank you! So when will Connie be home?”

She sighed, and looked at the small, pudgy boy. He was only 15, and didn’t even look that. His feet didn’t touch the floor sitting on the couch beside her. It was hard to imagine him fighting with the agility Connie had described.

“Do you realize,” she said delicately, “this is the 4th time you’ve come over this week?”

“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t come over on Wednesday, too. My dad had a car wash emergency.”

“What? No, that’s not exactly what I meant,” she grimaced as the boys large eyes stared up at her, “I just meant that- well- Connie just started high school, and her workload has increased quite a bit. She’s also has other friends, too. I’ve seen that she’s stressed with all that’s on her shoulders. She tries her best to keep up with you and the gems, but she’s got a whole life outside of that. Did you know that?”

“Oh,” his shoulders slumped, “You meant I’ve been coming over too much. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll just hang out with Lapis and P-dot for a while!”

“Steven, please don’t take this personally. You’re an amazing friend to Connie. But the high school she’s in is quite demanding; she's going to Sea City, and their science program really can't be beat. I hope you understand what an opportunity this is for her. It may get harder to keep up like you were before when you’re not at the same school as her.”

“I’m not in any school.”

“Well, you know what I mean. Don’t your aunts homeschool you or something?”

“Well,” he started counting tasks on his fingers, “we go on missions, recover relics, find more corrupted gems- although that doesn’t happen often anymore because the Diamonds healed most of them. I read books and comics or whatever, and I learn a lot from tv. I learned a lot of leadership stuff during on Homeworld playing the part of my mom. I can buy snacks, so that’s all the math I need. Oh, and my dad taught me music. That kind of covers the stuff Connie learns in school, too, right?”

The doctor’s eyes narrowed. She had come to care for the odd little boy as a part of her family, and her suspicions that he was having a subpar education bothered her.

“Steven, have you read The Grapes of Wrath?”

“Angry grapes? Aww, that sounds adorable!”

“Do you know anything about algebra?”

“Oh, I know that!”

“You do?”

“Um, a cross between an alligator and a zebra?”

The doctor couldn’t help but chuckle, “No, but nice guess.”

“Oh.”

“Steven, this is the last question I have for you, and raising my daughter has made me realize it’s just as important as academics,” she placed a hand on his shoulder, “Do you have any friends your own age besides Connie?”

“Hmm, most of my friends are thousands of years older than me. Lars and Sadie are pretty close to my age.”

“Well, when compared to thousands of years they are, but they are still legal adults. You may not realize it now, but they are in a vastly different stage of life than you.”

“Yeah, I guess they are! Isn’t it great how we’re all different?”

“Um, well yes there is great value to having diverse friends. But Steven, I hope you know Connie’s father and I have come to care greatly for you. And we have been talking about an idea that we thought you might be interested in.”

“Aww, I love you guys, too! What’s your idea?”

Connie walked in the door at that moment with her dad. Her posture stooped under her backpack’s weight.

“Oh sweetie! I’m glad you’re home. I was just talking with Steven about that idea I mentioned to you.”

“What?” she asked, her tired eyes widening, “Mom, I don’t know.”

“Nonsense, Connie, it will be fine,” she turned back to Steven, “Would you like to go to high school with Connie?”

Steven jumped up and shouted “Really? I would love to!”

“NO!” came a shout from the doorway.

They both turned to Connie, and she blushed as she realized how her outburst sounded.

“I mean,” she said, “I just- I don’t think you would like it, Steven.”

“Connie, are you kidding? It sounds fun! Maybe I could be a cheerleader!”

He grabbed Connie in a hug and she shot a pained look at her mother. Before she could say anything Steven rushed out a jumble of words about going “back to school shopping” with Pearl over the weekend and was riding Lion home. She was reasonably sure she had no idea what that phrase meant and that they would both be looking for a store named “back to school.”

“Mom,” Connie said, “Steven can fight aliens all day, but high schoolers will eat him alive.”


	2. To Stand By Her Side

“Steven,” Pearl placed her fingers on the bridge of her nose, “I DID teach you Algebra.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, right before our Homeworld History Era 1 unit!”

“But Pearl,” said Amethyst, “That was only for like a week. You know humans have to study that stuff for months before it sinks in right? Their squishy organic brains just leak it all out!” She turned into a puddle on the floor, “This is Steven’s brain on math.”

Almost as if to prove Amethyst’s point, Pearl saw Steven already had a slightly glazed over and unfocused look in his eyes. He was recalling an epic scene in a Dogcopter movie from the other night.

She then wheeled on her purple, diminutive counterpart, “And how do you know so much about human education?”

Amethyst shrugged and turned towards the fridge, “Enough to know we do it kind of badly sometimes. I been hanging out with Vidalia more, and she was telling me all about the classes Sour Cream has to take his for his Senior year or whatever,” she took a bite out of a stick of butter, “that kid always has homework, and his math classes last way longer than a week.”

“Well, I suppose we could focus a bit more on non-gem related education,” Pearl paced the room, “Afterall, we are in a time of relative peace with Homeworld. And I of course am the most qualified teacher, having had thousands more years to acquire knowledge than any human teacher--”

“Whaaaat?” Steven said, snapping out of his Dogcopter reverie, “Pearl, you’re great! I’m like, a complete expert on combat and alien stuff compared to other human boys! But I want to learn human stuff from- well, other humans. You can’t assume you’re better at teaching that stuff than they are just because you’re older.”

“Oh really?” Pearl smirked, “Try me. Just give me a topic.”

“Ok, what is Mitochondria?”

“The POWER HOUSE OF THE CELL!”

“Football?”

“Two groups of humans potentially fatally injuring each other while chasing an irregularly shaped ball made of dead animal skin.”

“Well, when you put it that way it just sounds barbaric,” Steven paused to think, “Oh, I know! WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM?”

“Uh- well,” Pearl stuttered as her face flushed a deep blue.

“Ohhh ho ho ho!” Amethyst shoved Pearl out of the way, “Vidalia AND Rose both told me about this one, I got this! Haha, shapeshifting will come in pretty handy for this lesson. Just let me-”

Garnet placed a hand on Amethyst’s shoulder to keep her from scarring the boy, “That’s enough, you two. Steven is right. Learning human topics from other humans will be good for him.”

“But Garnet-” Pearl said.

“Steven has done very well in his gem education, but we are only half of his heritage. Don’t you think he needs a little more interaction with humans his age?”

“I suppose so,” Pearl said, almost in a whisper.

“Pearl,” Steven said, cupping her small shoulders in his hands, “I know you’ll miss me. And that you’ll worry about me. But I’ll be home every afternoon after school, and if I’m struggling I promise I’ll come to you guys about it.”

Pearl grabbed him in a tight hug, which Steven returned before turning to look at the other two gems, “Connie is my best friend. She’s risked her life to be by my side while I fight my battles. But now she is fighting her own and I don’t even know how to relate to her about it. I want to to be by her side now. I want to meet her new friends and make my own. I just- I just want to be a teenager for once.

The three gems smiled at him proudly. Tears were welling in Pearl’s eyes and Garnet gave a thumbs up.

A grin split Steven’s cheeks and he grabbed the 3 of them in a hug, “Thank you, guys! I won’t let you down.”

An hour later, the four of them, along with Greg, were “back to school shopping.” Pearl had perked up considerably, and clutched a list in her hands. Her Type-A heart fluttered looking at all the neatly organized rows of colorful notebooks and supplies.

“Well I think it’s great you wanna try out a public shcool, Stew-ball,” said Greg, “I didn’t do that great in it, but you’re a lot smarter than your old man!”

“Aww, don’t sell yourself short dad! You’ve got that emotional intelligence. And you don’t really care about money or fame. I think that’s why mom fell in love with you, even after thousands of years knowing other humans.”

Greg stopped in the aisle, “Steven, wow, that’s really insigh-”

“DAAAAAAADDD! Look, they have glittery puppy pencil bags!”

“Oh! Yeah, would you look at that.”

“Great! Let’s check that off!” said Pearl, “Next up, 6 composition books.”

Steven grabbed 6 books all with different colors, and fell backwards on the floor when the purple book he held turned into Amethyst.

“Two 3 inch binders,” said Pearl, after Steven had collected himself.

“Oh, these pink ones match my gem!” he said, and threw them in the cart.

“Hey guys, why don’t you go find boring stuff like erasers and glue?” Greg said to the gems, “I want to have a word with Steven.”

The gems shrugged and went on to the next aisle with the cart.

“Steven,” Greg kneeled down, “There’s something that the gems haven’t told you about school.”

“Is it about where babies come from?”

“Wait, what? No.”

“Onion showed me this weird video a few years ago, so I know he came out of Vidalia’s-”

“WHOA there, kiddo! Let’s pick that conversation back up at the house. Don’t want anyone kicking us out of the store.”

Steven shrugged, “Ok. So what is it, Dad?”

“Other kids aren’t always very nice.”

“Oh. I just dealt with pretty much immortal giants trying to kill me. I think I’m ok with not nice.”

“This is a different kind of not nice. Think of a bunch of kids like Kevin. They might not be as easily swayed by your empathic abilities like the gems are. And they aren’t as used to weirdness as kids in Beach City are. This is Sea City we’re talking about. Just your average small town, with no alien residents or intergalactic attacks to give them the perspective that a boy singing on stage in a dress is no big deal.”

“Oh, you mean like they’re into old fashioned gender roles and stuff?”

“Yes, I guess you could say that. Look, Steven- I’m not going to ask you to change or hide who you are. I’m just trying to give it to you straight. Some of these kids will pick on anyone who’s different for any reason. I think growing up in Beach City, where everyone has always been so accepting, this might be a little of a shock for you. I believe 100% that you can handle it, but I just want you to be prepared. I don’t want you to ever think you have to fit in so that you can be happy. There will be at least a few kids there like Connie who like you for you, so try to seek them out, and bunk to what anyone else thinks.”

Steven nodded, “Ok, I can do that. Thanks, dad.”

They started walking to catch up with the gems.

“Besides,” said Greg, “If anyone tries to give you crap about having a glittery pencil bag, I’m pretty sure you could take kids twice your size in a fight!”

Steven chuckled. He didn’t think he would be willing to fight humans (outside of the wrestling ring at least). He didn’t like that his gem leant him such an unfair advantage.

He was about to say something to that effect when his phone buzzed. He took it out and saw a text message from Connie.

Connie: Hey, I just finished my homework for the weekend. You still want to hang out?

Steven: Can’t right now. We are BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING. :)

Connie: Lol, ok. So you decided to come on Monday after all?

Steven: Yeah...are you happy about that?

Connie: I think so. It’s just really hard to keep up with everything sometimes. I was worried, since you’ve never been in school before.

Connie: But I think you can do it! And I’m excited for you to meet my friends!

Steven: OWO

Steven: Thx Connie! I’ll call you when we are heading back the temple!

Steven looked up from his phone as someone’s shoulder bumped into him. He spun slightly and saw a tall teenager in a letterman jacket that read “Sea City High.”

“Oh,” Steven said, “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Hey, I’m starting at that high school on Monday! What’s your name?”

“I’m Stefan.”

“Nice, I’m Steven! Our names are almost twinsies!” he grinned and extended a hand.

Stefan’s brow furrowed, not quite sure what to make of the short boy in the pink shirt, and slowly took his hand out of his pocket to extend it to Steven.

“Hey dude,” shouted another teen the next aisle over, “You coming? We gotta get to Sabina’s party!”

Stefan reddened slightly and shouted back, “Yeah, coming!”

“Nice to meet you,” Steven said.

“Whatever, just watch where you’re going more on Monday. Consider this a warning.”

“Right,” said Steven.

A bunch of kids like Kevin, huh? Steven almost thought he’d rather take on a war with Homeworld.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Kendrix, my first AO3 commenter! You sparked the beginning of this chapter. Of course Steven has had education in the basic topics, and has some amazing friendships in Beach City, but Connie is the only kid his age in the entire show (except maybe Peedee?). It made me wonder how Steven would adjust to an entire school of same-aged peers, especially if many were the insecure, petty jerks that they are in real life, rather than self-assured and kind like Buck and company. Next chapter Steven is off to his first day at Sea City High!


	3. How I Show My Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I won't do most of the chapters from Priyanka's POV, I do think she's a fascinating and relatable character who has so much development that we never see on the show. The next chapter might take me a while because there's a lot to think about like OC's, Steven's baseline knowledge, and how he'll react to certain situations at school that Cartoon Network wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Enjoy!

Dr. Maheswaran held her coffee, staring at the perky boy in her doorway with the stuffed cheeseburger backpack. She was about to have a 45 minute drive with him.

“HEY-YO I’M HERE FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL CARPOOL!”

“Right, hello Steven,” she yawned, “I forgot that you’re a morning person.”

“Hey Steven,” Connie smiled, stepping in front of her mom and hugging him, “you ready?”

“You know I am,” he said, taking her hand as they walked to the car.

Priyanka observed this subtle interaction as she did most things to do with Steven- not entirely disapproving, but still with caution. When they got in the car, they both huddled together in the back seat, whispering excitedly about the day ahead.

She felt a little guilty about eavesdropping, but she was Connie’s mother and she figured that any conversation had in her car, using her gas money and chauffeur services, had certain limitations in its confidentiality. She slowly turned the radio down until she could gather what they were saying.

“I don’t have many friends, but the ones I have made have been really great,” said Connie, “There’s Ben and Sarah in Orchestra, and then there’s the kids in the Fantasy Book Club. I think you’d really like with them. They are going to flip out when they find out about your powers.”

“Oh,” said Steven, “I guess the kids in Sea City don’t know about the Crystal Gems, huh?”

“No,” she said, “I wanted to tell them all about you. I mean, I’ve told them a lot of other stuff about what an amazing person you are, but I thought your powers might be better seen in person. You know most people give the stories from Beach City about the same amount of credibility as Roswell, New Mexico, right?”

Steven laughed, “Yeah, I guess my family is pretty hard to explain unless you’ve seen them for yourself.”

“Hey Steven, can I tell you something? Promise you won’t get mad?”

“I’ve never been mad at you before. Why start now?”

Priyanka lowered the radio a little more to hear Connie.

“You know how at first I didn’t want you to go to school with me because I was worried about the work being too hard for you, or about people picking on you?”

“Yeah,” said Steven, “you were just being protective. I thought it was sweet.”

“Well, except that’s not really why I didn’t want you to go. I mean, it was part of it. But I never really believed you couldn’t handle it. You’re really smart. Pearl is a good teacher, and I think you know way more than you give yourself credit for. And no high school bully will be dumb enough to pick on a kid as nice as you that also has super powers. And the thing is- I mean it’s really horrible to admit this…”

“It’s ok, Connie. You can say it.”

“I was afraid that high school would turn out a lot easier for you than it is for me. I thought you would make more friends, and that everyone would like you and that-” her voice cracked, “that maybe you would leave me behind.”

There was a pause.

“Connie, I would never-”

Connie continued, struggling to speak through her tears, “That is so petty and possessive of me! I have no right to feel that way! I don’t want it to be as hard on you as it is on me, not really!”

They were no longer whispering, and Priyanka figured they had completely forgotten she was there.

“Connie, your feelings are valid,” Steven said, “Maybe part of the reason I’m coming is because I don’t want you to leave me behind either.”

Connie looked up at him, “Really?”

Priyanka looked in the rear view mirror to see Steven cupping Connie’s cheek with one hand, his face inches away from hers. The doctor cleared her throat loudly and Steven jumped back to a safe distance, glancing up at the mirror with beet-red cheeks.

“Yeah,” Steven said, “but I also wanted to know what I was missing out on. There’s all these TV shows I love about kids going to school. And also, I wanted to know what it’s like to have different teachers and clubs. And have people sign my yearbook. And, well,” he looked at the floor, “I think I also just wanted you to see me as smart. I figured if school could help me be half as smart as you, then I’d be doing pretty well.”

“Steven,” Connie said, gripping his hand, “thanks for helping me feel better.”

“You really think dealing with mean kids will be so much easier because of my powers?”

“Well, yeah! Who would try to beat up a kid who could throw them a quarter mile away?”

Priyanka stiffened. She didn’t know Steven was quite that strong.

“Well, then maybe they don’t need to know.”

“What?” said Connie.

Steven shifted towards Connie more, “I want to go through this with you. Just a normal human going through all the normal stuff a freshman has to go through. I don’t want to be treated any differently. I don’t want to overshadow you or just become ‘that kid with powers.’ I want to make friends with people because they just like me.”

“Whoa, Steven, are you sure? That’s a big secret to hide.”

“Yeah it is. Might be kind of liberating, though. I’m still kind of dealing with the fact that people have expected me to be my mom my whole life. I know what it’s like to be me, but half of me isn’t human. Maybe I just- I just want to feel human for a while?” He shrugged.

“I hate to say this, but that kind of sounds like something your mom would say.”

“Huh, I hadn’t thought of that,” Steven looked down at his lap and furrowed his brow, “I guess I really am like her.”

“Steven, FYI, you’re more human than anyone I know,” said Connie, “and you’re not doing this to hide or run away from your problems like she did, right? You’re doing this to relate more to me, which is really sweet. And to just have one teenager experience that isn’t completely dominated by that rock in your belly! Nothing’s wrong with that! You’ve been through a lot, and after that stuff on Homeworld no one could say you’re the type to hide from your problems.”

“Ok, point taken,” Steven brightened, “It could be kind of fun, too! I could be like an undercover Superhero!”

“Whoa yeah!” Connie jumped up in her seat, “You could be like Bruce Wayne! Or Peter Parker! And I would be the only one who helped you keep your secret! Like Alfred, or Mary Jane.”

“Hmm, well if I had to pick I guess you’re more like MJ, but you’re pret- I mean cooler than both of them.”

Connie giggled and took out her phone, “Hey, I have a Superhero filter on here. Take a selfie with me for your first day of school, Spiderman!”

The kids took a series of pictures in silly poses and for the rest of the car ride laughed as they scrolled through the different filters and effects.

Priyanka pulled up to the school and they gathered their things.

“Bye Connie! Have a good day with Spiderman there!”

Connie folded her arms, “Mom, I knew you were eavesdropping!”

“Nosiness is how I show my love! Bye, honey.”

Connie rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the car, but not before kissing her mom on the cheek and thanking her for the ride.

Priyanka drove away towards the hospital, looking back in her mirror to see Connie laughing at something Steven said before they got lost in the sea of adolescents. It made her uncomfortable with how close they were at such a young age, but Connie was a smart girl, and Steven was a decent boy (even if he wasn’t Indian, like her own mother complained about).

At the next light, she noticed a piece of paper folded up to resemble a star next to her. She unfolded it to see Steven's large, loopy, messy handwriting:  
"Thank you for trusting me with Connie. I know my family makes you uncomfortable sometimes because we do these crazy missions and a lot of them are from space. I like knowing good moms like you. I think if my mom were here, you guys would have liked each other. Also, thanks for taking me to school! -Steven <3" 

She blinked and touched the corner of her eye, surprised at the tear that resided there. A horn blared behind her well after the light turned green and she fumbled to get her mind back on the road. She certainly hoped none of her patients saw her being such a distracted driver.

Priyanka thought back to her own mother, who was constantly criticizing her cooking, her husband, her parenting, and even her decision not to have more children until she got a son despite 4 miscarriages. She tried her best to not become her own mother in Connie's eyes, and it was nice for someone outside the family to acknowledge the effort it took for her to do that. The next time her mother gave her a hard time about Steven, she knew exactly where to tell her to shove it. That boy was a keeper.


	4. Lucky Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter does contain some violence and offensive language. In other words, it's high school. I was not expecting things to escalate this quickly, but here we are! Also, thanks for all the great feedback and comments! I usually don't have the mental capacity to respond to them much after hammering out a chapter, but really, they are very appreciated and motivating.

Steven froze in the hallway as the cacophony built around him after the bell. Most students hurried to class, although a few continued to stand around and talk as if they could not hear loud bells. Steven looked away when he saw there was even one couple making out, pressed against the lockers. He instead observed the banners everywhere with footballs and dolphins. He thought dolphins seemed like a pretty cool mascot. Even though he was a little on the old side to be a freshman, every other freshman Connie pointed out to him on their way to pick up his class schedule was at least a few inches taller than him.

It took several minutes to get Steven's schedule. His dad had registered him, there was still some technical difficulties as the lady at the front desk explained “Sometimes the system acts up with you homeschooled kids. It keeps wanting me to give a place you transferred from.”

Steven choosing his electives was another exhausting process for the poor front-desk-lady due to his patent enthusiasm for every new activity mentioned.

“Alright,” she sighed, once his schedule was finally printed, “this will be your schedule just for this week, until we can get you into some aptitude testing. Your schedule might change if your results show you need any remedial classes.”

“Hey, cool!” said Connie, “We have first and 7th period together!”

“Well, I'll trust you to walk him to class then, Ms. Maheswaran. You watch out for him, ok?”

“Yes, m'am.”

The woman went to get them hall passes, and the kids noted that by now they were well into first period.

They stepped out into the quiet hallway and went up the stairs when Steven heard a familiar voice talking about a party over the weekend.

“Hey, why aren't they in class?” Steven said, “Are they new here, too?”

“Um, no Steven,” Connie whispered, “they're playing hookie. Come on, let's go before they see us!”

Steven brightened, “Oh Connie, hold on! I know him!”

“What? Him? Steven, wait-”

Steven ran up to a cluster of tall, athletic juniors, with his new friend in the middle of them, “Stefan, hey! Any advice for my first day?”

Stefan stepped back as he looked down at Steven, his eyes darting to his friends. He responded in a hushed tone, “Get out of here, kid! What are you doing?”

“Um, I’m just saying hi,” Steven said, cocking his head, “How was your party?”

“Do you know this kid, Stefan?” asked one of his buddies.

“No Dex, I don’t know him.”

“Then how did he know about the party?”

Stefan took a deep breath and said, “I don’t know but I think he was following me at the store the other day. Probably wanted an invite. Pathetic.”

“No, I didn't’ want an invite. I actually had plans that night with my friend, Connie. I was just being friendly.”

At that moment Connie came up beside him and froze. “Steven,” she whispered, “let’s just go!”

Steven was about to walk away with Connie when the boy named Dex, who was about Steven’s build but well over 2 feet taller, stepped in his way, “And what gives you the right to be friendly with Stefan? He don’t swing that way.”

“Swing what? I’m friendly to everyone. Why’s it any of your business who I talk to?” Annoyance crept into Steven’s tone, which was enough to set Dex off.

In a flash, Dex slammed Steven into the wall and held him there, his fist posed above his face, “You trying to start something, you fat, faggot midget? Know your place!”

“Steven!” Connie moved to help, but stopped. She knew Steven could get himself out of this situation just fine, and she didn’t want to escalate things.

Steven did not try to escape. He did not produce his bubble or his shield. And he did not speak. Instead he just stared into the eyes of his aggressor, wondering how long it would take him to relent from the discomfort.

Within a few seconds, Dex broke eye contact, but quickly recovered with another verbal barb, “What, are you a faggot and an idiot? Say something!”

Steven waited several more seconds before saying, “Why are you doing this? Isn’t it exhausting, carrying this much anger? Let's just start over; hi, I'm Steven. I like playing music and the Crying Breakfast Friends.”  


“What the fuck? Now you think I want to be friends with you?”

“Not really. I thought I’d give you the chance to, though.”

The boy was caught off guard, evidenced by his slackened grip. It was enough for Steven to easily slip out of his hold.

“So...I have to get to class now. I hope next time we meet you feel better about yourself and tell me about the stuff you like!”

Steven turned to leave, giving a disappointed glance at Stefan. He reminded him of Lars in the old days. For some reason Steven could sense a good heart under that jerky surface.

They seemed to be in the clear when Steven felt a grip on his shoulder spin him around, “DON’T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU, FREAK!”

Dex raised his fist, definitely intent on striking this time.

At the same moment, Stefan said “Dex, stop!” and Connie shouted “NO!”

The next thing Steven knew Connie was between himself and Dex, the large fist about to connect with her jaw. Dex’s eyes widened in surprise and while he tried to veer his momentum to the side, his fist still grazed the side of Connie's face with enough force for her to lose her footing slightly and stagger backwards into Steven. 

“Connie!” Steven shouted, holding her upright “Are you alright?”

“Get out of the way and let me handle this, you dirty, curry bitch!”

Dex took a step forward, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the intensity of Steven's gaze on him.

“Oh, you still want some, faggot?”

Dex raised his fist at Steven, but his arm was swiftly immobilized by Steven's hand on his wrist. With one arm, he launched the 220 pound quarterback into the lockers several feet behind him.

Steven whispered to Connie, who he noticed was clutching her cheek, “Does it still hurt?”

“Only a little. I'll be fine.”

He gently removed her fingers with his and kissed the swelling red blotch on her cheek, “I hope that helps.”

Connie nodded, her eyes locked with his.

Steven gave her a small smile and turned to acknowledge Dex. He was squirming on the ground in pain, and in no state of mind to try and retaliate. The lockers on the wall that Dex had collided with were dented in several inches.

Steven knelt down and cooly surveyed the massive teen curled before him, “I didn’t mean to do that so hard. I’m sorry you’re in pain.”

“What the hell, dude! I think you broke my ribs,” Dex’s voice was low and raspy.

“You’re probably right. Hold on,” he licked his hand, “Despite the homophobic slurs you were calling me earlier, I promise I am NOT doing this because I’m attracted to you.”

The boy flinched as Steven lifted his shirt and his spit-covered hand touched his ribcage. There was murmuring behind them at the strange scene.

Slowly, Dex got up, touching his torso, “How-how did you do that? What-”

“I’m kind of magic,” Steven shrugged. He stepped up to Dex and floated upwards so that he was making eye contact, “And if you ever touch or insult Connie again, next time you won’t be lucky enough for me to spit on you.”

Dex just nodded, not meeting Steven’s gaze. The magical boy floated back down to the ground, “And I take it none of you will tell anyone about this? Unless you want people to know you were beat up by a freshman?”

Dex nodded again.

“Now apologize to Connie, please.”

Dex murmured, “I'm sorry, Connie.”

Steven glanced at Connie, and she gave him a small nod to indicate she was satisfied with this apology.

“Ok, bye!” Steven turned and gave an innocent smile to the other boys behind them, took Connie’s hand, and walked to his their first period class.

“Holy heck!” Connie said as soon as they were out of earshot, “Steven, are you alright?”

“What? Yeah, he didn't even touch me- thanks to you. Are you sure you're alright?

“Yeah, I just mean, that was really intense. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that angry.”

Steven laughed and looked down at the floor, “Yeah, it’s not a good look for me. Makes me feel icky. I hope I didn’t freak you out or anything.”

“Well, I feel like I should freak out, but Steven really,” she glanced at him with a grin, “you’re kind of a badass.”

Steven stopped in the hallway, eyes wide as his face flushed red, “No really, I shouldn’t rely on my gem powers here. That was such a cheap shot! I just saw that he hurt you-and then called you a, um, and I- I snapped.”

“And then you healed him. See, no harm done,” she chuckled, “Well, except to those lockers.”


	5. A Bear Claw

Steven sat in his second period staring at his hands. By the time him and Connie got to first period there was only 20 minutes left, and now he was in his math class, not hearing a word around him because of how loud all the words in his head were.

He flexed his right hand, the one that had thrown Dex into the lockers with such ease. His hand was small and a little pudgy. Calluses covered his fingertips from playing music, but his palm was supple and soft. It did not look like the hand of the human weapon he knew he had the potential to be.

His mind kept drifting back to Homeworld, about how afraid he was thinking that his raw gem half might hurt the others around him. He screamed for him to stop. Even when he was dying, he was worried about hurting everyone else. Didn’t that make him a good person?

If he was so good, then why did it feel so good to hurt Dex? To threaten him?

Steven put his hands under the desk and blinked back tears.

“Mr. Universe? Are you alright?”

Steven snapped to attention, looking up at the teacher. He thought he’d be so much more excited to be learning, but there was so much to distract him from it. Was school supposed to be like that, he wondered?

“I was going to ask you to introduce yourself,” the teacher said, “is that alright with you?”

Steven nodded, a smile coming to his face as he looked at the kids around him. They all looked so nice. He shouldn’t let himself be closed off from them just because the first guys he met were jerks.

“Ok,” the teacher encouraged, “how about your name, what school you’re transferring from, and something interesting about you.

“Hi! I’m Steven Universe. Um, this is my first day of school ever,” he paused, trying to think of an interesting fact about him that wasn’t gem related, “and if I was a donut I think I’d be chocolate covered with sprinkles! Wait, no! A Bear Claw! At least, that’s how I’m feeling today.”

The class stared at him for a few seconds until a red-haired girl raised her hand, “So, you’ve never been to school? How do you know how to read and stuff?”

“Oh, my three ge- I mean moms taught a lot of stuff. I actually love reading! I just finished The Spirit Morph Saga for the second time. My friend, Connie, wanted to do a podcast on it.”

A boy raised his hand, “Wait, back up, you have THREE moms? Are they all, like, together?”

Steven cocked his head, pretty sure he was missing something, “Well, everyone has their own rooms, but yeah we all live together.”

“No, I mean like-” the boy darted a glance at the teacher and made a scissoring motion with both hands.

“Like, do they make scrapbooks?” Steven asked slowly.

A few snickers rose in the class.

“Mr. Flannigan, that is enough!” admonished the teacher.

“Well,” Steven continued, still thinking the topic at hand was most likely scrapbooking, “I kind of picked up crafts on my own and from TubeTube. And my dad taught me music!”

“WHOA,” exclaimed Flannigan, “so is your dad with all the moms?”

“Mr. Flannigan, you are asking for detention!”

“No, he lives in a van close by.”

“Nice,” said the boy with a grin.

Steven shrugged and nodded at the strange boy, and the flustered teacher navigated the class back into their lesson.

Steven was able to focus on the lesson material ok, but his hand cramped from all the notes he’d written by the end of the class. A lot of it was similar to what Pearl had taught him, but it sounded like the teacher used some different terms.

After the class, Steven went to his locker to unload the heavy Geometry book for the rest of the day. He actually didn’t think it would be that hard to carry, but he noticed other kids switching out books around him, and was excited for an excuse to decorate his locker.

He had come armed with stickers and magnets from all the little fandoms he was in, as well as some of his favorite pictures of Connie and the gems. There was also a little magnetic mirror shaped like a donut, and a magnetic pencil holder shaped like a hot dog.

When he was satisfied with how it was all arranged, he lingered on a picture of Connie. He had caught her by surprise in that one, mid laugh. Nothing made him feel better than seeing that expression on her, except maybe knowing it was him that put it there.

“I listened to your podcast.”

“Ah!” Steven slammed his locker, hoping he had not been staring at the picture too long. He turned to see a mousy looking blonde girl with a bright smile full of braces.

“Oh, sorry to startle you! I’m Sarah, Connie’s friend from the Fantasy Book Club after school? I was just saying that I listened to the podcast that you mentioned in Geometry- the one you and Connie did on The Spirit Morph Saga! I’m a big fan.”

“Hey Sarah!” he shook her hand, “Thank you! Honestly, Connie wasn’t sure we’d have any listeners.”

“Yeah! You guys are somewhat well known in the fandom. At least the fandom here at Sea City High. Which is like 3 people- but still! We all start somewhere!”

“Cool! That’s three times more than I thought would listen! Connie told me people would, but I didn’t know why anyone would listen to me get all sappy about the ending.”

“Are you kidding? I was an Archimicarus/Lisa shipper from day one! I mean, I know people were weirded out that he was a bird for most of the series, but familiars just take the form of their chosen animal, you know? That doesn’t mean they actually are that animal. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, exactly!” Steven jumped, almost forgetting not to float in his enthusiasm, “People totally miss the subtext that builds up their relationship through the whole series, and then they break all these barriers put in place by their magical society to be together! It’s beautiful!”

“And then there’s the cake!”

“THE CAKE! That whole 20 pages has to be the best piece of cake-related fiction out there.”

“Haha, I know, right? I mean, I get why people say it was a cop out appeal to the masses to have them get together, but I don’t think you have to be a martyr just to fulfill your rebel cause, you know? Critics just like the protagonists to be miserable to teach some lesson.”

Steven shrugged, “Well, I guess not everyone is into the ‘happy marriage ending.’ Obviously you know Connie wasn’t. That’s ok, though! She really respects our different opinions on the book.”

“Which is what made your pod so interesting! You would read the same chapter and have completely different but complementary interpretations!” The warning bell sounded, “Shoot, I’m gonna be late. As if my teacher won’t be ticked enough with me already! It’s your first day, right? Do you know where your class is?”

Steven gave a thumbs up, “Sure do! Why is your teacher gonna be ticked at you? Besides being late?”

“Well, I don’t have any of my books with me for the rest of the day. It’s actually not my fault, but I don’t know if she’d believe me. When I tried to go to my locker before last period it was totally smashed in and I couldn’t open it!”

Steven’s shoulders slumped and he averted his gaze, “Oh. Sorry about that.”

She laughed, “Why are you apologizing? Still sucks, though. What on earth could have done that?”

Steven shrugged, “Maybe something not from earth?”

“Um, yeah ok Steven. An alien came and smashed my locker,” she rolled her eyes, “Anyways, it’ll be fine, see you and Connie at lunch?”

“Yeah, ok,” he waved weakly after Sarah and planted his forehead on his locker.

Looking down, he noticed the folded corner of a note written on paper with thin blue lines. It was sticking out from the bottom of his locker. Someone must of slipped it in, and he didn’t notice it at first in his decorating frenzy.

“Whoa, college ruled. Fancy,” he mumbled as he pulled the note out and unfolded it.

In small, messy handwriting, he was summoned:  
“Meet me after school behind the gym. Whatever you are, you really shouldn’t have pulled that stunt this morning. -S”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I was camping for most of last week, and life is kind of crazy right now as well, so this is probably the only chapter I'll get out this week. As always, thanks for all the feedback and support. It really keeps me going (unlike my novel, which is pretty much stagnant. Q_Q).


	6. Weird Steven

Steven made it to the book club after school about 20 minutes late, after telling Connie to head there without him. Usually she wouldn’t have thought much of it, but he just seemed off. He still smiled and laughed at things the others said, but when no one was directly addressing him, his face settled into a blank, distant stare. The sunlight streaming through the window highlighted stubble on his chin, and when they stood to leave she had to look up to meet his eyes. It was then that she noticed his shirt was tighter around his shoulders than normal.

Just one day of high school seemed to have aged him. She worried that what happened with Dex that morning was still weighing on him.

She worked out in her head how to bring up his strange behavior as they walked out to the curb to wait for Mr. Universe to pick them up.

“So,” she ventured, “I noticed you were a little late to book club. You didn’t run into any more trouble, did you?”

“What? Um, no. I just got caught up talking to the teacher. About homework.”

“Hmm,” Connie grunted. They had the last period together. There was no homework given.

He tapped his foot and kept looking off towards where they expected the van to pull up.

“Steven, are you still thinking about this morning?”

“Huh,” he turned to her, a sheen of sweat on his forehead, “yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Please talk to me. Don’t shut me out,” she grabbed his hand and rubbed the back of his palm with her thumb.

Steven gripped her hand and Connie let out a squeak as she was pulled into a hug. His hands cupped the small of her back and her head, tangling his fingers in her hair. 

She twined her arms around him and squeezed his now broad shoulders, frightened by his sudden desperation, “What’s wrong, Steven? I’m here.”

“I- I just- you’re right. I feel bad about this morning. Would you be alright if I walked you to all of your classes for a few days? I don’t want to be clingy, but I just don’t want to run into those guys without you there.”

Connie pulled back to look at Steven’s face. She still felt like there was something he wasn’t telling her, but she trusted that he would when he was ready, “Yeah, I guess that’s fine.”

“Cool. Ok, yeah. I’ve got this,” Steven was mumbling, “You’re safe.”

“What?”

“Um- oh, there’s Dad!”

The entire car ride home, they sang the songs on Mr. Universe’s cd at top volume with the windows down. While she usually found this cathartic, this time she just felt like it was Steven’s way of avoiding further scrutiny from her.

***  
Over the next several days, Steven continued to get weirder. His eyes were always darting around, and he was unfocused on any conversation she tried to maintain.

“Steven, right here is fine,” she said outside the gym on day 3 of Weird Steven, “you know you can’t walk me into the girl’s locker room.”

“Well, um, I was thinking what if we just fused into Stevonnie and registered as a new student? That might be fun, right?”

“What? Steven, that’s a horrible idea. You know I don’t like fusing on my period. Also, if Stevonnie is here then ‘Connie’ will be counted absent, and you know my mom would not fail to notice that.”

“Haha, you’re right. I’ll just go now. Bye, Connie!”

“Hmm, ok,” she said slowly, walking towards the locker room. 

She pretended to go through the door, but then double backed to see Steven still standing behind the door next to the locker room.

“Alright, that’s it! What is going on, Steven?” She was almost shouting. She hated secrets.

His hands went up, “Whoa, Connie, what do you mean?”

“Why are you just waiting there? You’re going to be late to all your classes at this rate! You can either tell me why you’re insisting on following me everywhere or you can leave me alone!”

Steven crossed his arms and he looked at the floor, “I don’t want to tell you.”

“Fine! Then go! You think you’re the only one who can fend for yourself? I’m FINE. I’m a trained sword fighter. I don’t need you to be my knight; just go to your own class!”

Steven teared up and Connie regretted her words even more than she did when they were spilling out of her mouth.

“Hey, I didn’t-”

“No, you’re right,” Steven said, “This isn’t working. I’ll figure something else out.”

He ran off and Connie sighed.

“Hey, is everything ok with you guys?”

Sarah placed her hand on Connie’s shoulder. She was already dressed out for gym class, so Connie knew she should hurry.

“Yeah, it’s complicated. I'm such a jerk. I mean, I meant what I said, but the delivery was way off, you know?”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. But you and Steven are so solid; you'll get through it, right?”

“It’ll be fine. We’ve dealt with worse. Hey,” Connie shifted uncomfortably, “do you have a tampon?”

A few minutes later Connie was dressed out and putting up with the drudgery of gym class. She did pretty well in gym due to all her training, but the cramping and the fact that she had leaked a little before Sarah gave her supplies made every activity unpleasant. She never hated that big, scratchy climbing rope with the stupid bell she had to touch at the top more.

Steven wasn’t at lunch. She didn’t see him during any of her passing periods for the rest of the day, but she thought she could apologize to him during 7th period and figure out what was going on then. At this point she didn’t care if she had to miss class to do so.

Only he wasn’t at 7th period.

After class she got a single text from him that said “Taking Lion home. I’m sorry. See you tomorrow.”

She called and texted back with no answer. She had half a mind to just show up at his house, until she got in her mom’s car and found out that her grandmother was visiting.

“Ugh, are you serious, mom? A little notice would have been great.”

“For you and me both, Connie,” her mom muttered.

“If she says one more thing about my short hair-”

“Connie, she’s your grandmother and my mother. Opinionated as she is, you still need to respect her. Our house is and always should be open to her.”

Connie crossed her arms and slumped in her seat, “I know, mom, geez. I’ll be as perfect as I can around her.”

“Excuse me, what is with the attitude, young lady?”

Connie straightened a bit and winced at the protesting pang in her stomach, “Sorry. Just a rough period.”

“Oh, ok. We’ll get you a hot pack and some medicinal tea at the house. I’ll have your father stock up on some Midol and more tampons at the store.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, “you guys are really great parents, you know that?”

“Yes, but it never helps to hear it,” her mom laughed weakly, “Are you sure that’s all that’s bothering you, sweetie?”

“I dunno, just high school drama. I don’t really feel like re-hashing it right now.”

“Ok. You’ll talk to me about it if you need to, though?”

“Yeah, Mom. Always.”

Soon they pulled up to the house, and Connie’s mom kissed her on the cheek, “She’ll just be staying with us a few days, sweetie.”

Connie then watched as her mom was untucked her shirt, “There, that’ll make me the target of her criticism long enough for you to make it upstairs. I’ll tell her you don’t feel well.”

Connie giggled, “Thanks, but I’ll stay down with you, mom.”

“I’ve raised a brave girl.”

The two of them laughed as they walked into the house and Connie prepared for the transition from one type of stress to another. She wished she could talk to Steven about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was a little short, but I re-wrote it 2.5 times trying to figure out which perspective was best. Fanfiction is great for playing with perspectives! So yeah, I finally decided I just needed to get it out. I know I'm being pretty mean to the characters right now, but don't worry! I'll lighten things up with some more fluffy, Slice of Life chapters as well. >_O


	7. Extra Lickers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dex's character is making this story get pretty dark. I'm so sorry that I'm putting our little cinnamon roll characters through this stuff. I just wanted a cute, fluffy, high school Slice-of-Life story, but nOOooooO! I just HAD to go for the drama. Anyone who says that writers have complete control over their stories is lying.

Steven didn’t think much of his ominous little note. He figured the guys from that morning might want a rematch, in which case he would lecture them about friendship and walk away in his bubble like a giant hamster ball.

He was sincerely trying to keep his powers a secret, but those guys already saw him use them once anyway, right?

When Steven first approached, Stefan stared down at him with steely blue eyes, his letterman jacket slung over one shoulder. The two boys assessed each other, one looking much physically stronger than the other, but both with the knowledge that those appearances were quite misleading.

The older boy finally spoke, “I wanted to apologize for Dex’s behavior this morning. That guy is such a psycho dick sometimes.”

Anger flared in Steven’s stomach, contradicting the compulsion arising in him to forgive right away like he almost always did.

“Apologize? Why didn’t you say anything then?”

“I tried to,” Stefan said, grimacing, “I dunno, I just freeze up around him sometimes.”

“You’re scared of him?”

“No!” He spat, and then softened his tone again, “Look, Dex and I go way back. We used to be friends, and some really fucked up shit has happened that made him- I dunno- not quite right anymore. He just flies off the handle sometimes.”

“Oh,” Steven said, also softening, “so you’re just trying to be loyal to your friend, who’s done some messed up stuff in the past? I guess I can relate to that.”

Stefan made a scoffing grunt, “Don’t try to make me sound so noble. I mean, maybe that’s part of it, but mainly I’m just trying to survive. He’s a psycho, a star athlete, and his aunt is the Principal, so the teachers and the students let him get away with anything. Nobody here wants to be on his bad side.”

Steven sighed, unsure what to make of this boy. He could see in his face that he cared for Dex, and that it pained him to see the person he had become. Steven had gathered that, especially for males, emotional suppression was used as a primary coping mechanism, although it seemed nothing but destructive to him.

“I used to have a friend like you,” Steven said.

Stefan blinked back his surprise, “And how the hell do you know what I’m like?”

“I just mean he was scared. He didn’t know how to not be. Scared of being himself around other kids, also scared of not. He hated himself for it, and he took that out on others. But deep down, he really cared for others. A lot.”

Stefan glared, about to lash out in self defense, but stopped himself before he spoke. After a pause he said, “And what happened to him? You said he ‘used’ to be your friend.”

“Oh, I’m still friends with him. He found his courage, though. He’s not that person anymore.”

Stefan stared at Steven and shook his head as if to refocus himself, “Look, I don’t need a pep talk from any freshman- and no, I don’t care if you’re as magical as dragon dicks!”

“Hmm, I’ve actually never read a book that included the magical properties of-”

“Shut up!” Stefan shouted, “Apologizing wasn’t the main thing I came here to do. I came here to warn you.”

“About what?”

“Dex, you idiot! You humiliated him in front of his friends, and he’s gonna want payback. His usual M.O. is just beating people up, but he’s not stupid. If he’s not able to do that, then he’ll do something worse.”

“Thanks, but I’m not scared of people like him.”

“What about that girl you hang around with? Should she be scared of him?”

The color drained from Steven’s face, “Connie shouldn’t have anything to do with this. I’m the one who humiliated Dex, not her.”

“Doesn’t matter to him. She’s the easiest way to get to you. Tell her not to come to school until he calms down. Or if she is here don’t leave her unguarded.”

Steven briefly thought about telling Connie to stay home from school, but immediately dismissed it. He wouldn’t have her miss out on the education she loved so much because of his stupidity.

“How do I get Dex to leave us alone?”

“Honestly,” Stefan said, “he’ll probably want to use those powers of yours. Go offer him your- um- services. See where that gets you.”

“No,” Steven resounded, “I won’t use my powers to hurt anyone else. That can’t be the only way to keep Connie from getting hurt.”

Stefan shrugged, “Suit yourself. I’ve done my part.”

Steven was left standing alone, wondering how dealing with the Diamonds had seemed so hard a few months ago.

***

He followed Connie around to every class for the next several days, until she got mad at him for not telling her what was going on and blew up on him. He couldn’t say he blamed her, and for the rest of the day he still followed her- just where she couldn’t see him. He was more than aware that would be creepy in most contexts, but every time he tried to stop he imagined Dex cornering her under the bleachers, or behind the band hall, or any of the other little nooks of the school to do something horrible.

Connie texted him a few times after book club, but he couldn’t form a single response. Every time he tried he wanted to tell her what was going on, but he was so ashamed that his actions had put her in danger. He didn’t want her to take on any more stress than she already did at school.

He stared up at his ceiling in bed that night as his thoughts pelted him with the same force as the rain on his roof and windows. There was a thunderstorm outside, and lightning illuminated the objects around his bed that collided his boyhood with his adolescence. Stacks of books and video games littered the floor. His toys lined the window, collecting a little more dust than they used to. A picture of Connie from when they were 12 was above his bed, as well as a picture of everyone at Garnet’s wedding.

He shifted as he tugged at his pajamas, which were suddenly a little too small for him.

After a while, he finally decided that sleep was not coming to him that night and got up for some water. He took out his phone and stared at it, wondering if he should just call Connie and come clean about everything. It was probably too late, though.

He jumped as the temple door activated.

Garnet walked out of her room, up to Steven, and peered down at him for several seconds.

Finally she said, “It is absolutely not too late to call her.”

“Garnet, how-”

“FUTURE VISION. How many moms have that, seriously? Just call her.”

Steven looked at the floor, “How much do you know?”

“Not the specifics- not unless you want to tell me. I was just meditating in my room when you popped into my mind. I could sense a lot was troubling you, and that the next few days will be hard. However, in almost all possible futures, the result is better when keep Connie informed. You guys are a team.”

“You’re right,” he smiled and looked back down at his phone, “She deserves to know. I got in trouble with her once for shutting her out because I wanted to protect her. I have no idea why I’m doing it again.”

“It’s because you’ve got an incurable hero complex,” Garnet said, her face softening at Steven’s frown, “but there are worse flaws to have. If you are aware of your weaknesses then you are able to keep them in check- with a little help from your friends, of course.”

Garnet gave him that special little crooked smile she had after saying something clever, and Steven grabbed her in a hug. He then plopped on his couch while dialing Connie’s number before he could change his mind.

The call went straight to voicemail.

Steven also sent a text, and stared at his phone waiting for the little dots that indicated she was typing a response. There were none.

Steven looked up at Garnet, who simply nodded with a thumbs up. That was all the approval he needed to get Lion and ride over to Connie’s house and explain everything.

If she stayed home for a day he would be able to focus on confronting Dex. Ms. Maheswaran was lenient when Connie was having the worst of her period, especially since she was usually ahead in all her work, anyway.

Lion was found snoring under the house, needing several bribes and promises from Steven to even lift an eyelid.

“Hey, come on, buddy! I don’t need to go anywhere too far tonight.”

“RaaAwWrrr,” yawned the cat.

“Yes, I know it’s late, but-”

“Grrrrroooollllll…”

“-and I know you don’t like getting your mane wet, but I’ll get you so many Lion Lickers in the morning!”

Lion lifted his head, eyes narrowed.

Steven rolled his eyes, “Will 4 Lion Lickers do?”

He didn’t move.

“Six, but that’s my final offer.”

Lion almost seemed to nod in agreement, waited for Steven to mount him, and then gathered speed before leaping through a warp-hole.

Steven emerged in an unfamiliar neighborhood. The mobile home before him had several tires and used car parts in the yard. The paint was peeling and the screen door was missing both the screen and the top hinge.

“Heyyy, Lion? You know this isn’t Connie’s house, right?”

The cat simply huffed and sat down.

“Lion!! This wasn’t part of the deal! Take me to Connie’s or no Lickers for you!” Steven shivered as the rain drenched him.

His phone went off in his pocket, and he found shelter under the scraggly tree in the front yard of the house to check it.

He gasped and slapped his hand over his eyes when he saw what the message contained. It never occurred to him that the message would be from someone other than Connie.

It was an image from an unknown number. It was a picture of Connie- mostly naked- in what looked like the girl’s locker room. Anger, fear, and disgust welled in him. The disgust was partially at himself for not being able to get the image out of his mind, and for the part of him that didn’t want to.

Another text soon followed: “Unless you want this sent to everyone in school, come to the shed in the backyard at 1396 Beech St. by 9am.”

It was currently 10:45pm.

Steven looked up at the address before him, which matched the one on the text. He looked over at Lion, who haughtily glared at him from the curb.

“I don’t know how you do it, but you definitely get extra Lickers for this.”

Steven began to wander behind the shed, when another text came in.

He dreaded looking at it until he saw it was from Connie: “Hey, sorry I was visiting with my Grandma and just now looked at my phone. Are you ok?”

Deciding it was too much to text, Steven just called her, explaining everything as clearly as he could while whispering in a thunderstorm. Steven was sobbing by the end of the story.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you! All I’ve done is make school harder for you! I was trying to protect you and I-I-”

“Steven!” Connie blurted, “Stop. It’s fine, we’ll get through this together!”

He sniffled loudly, “Ok.”

“So, that picture- did you...”

“I’m sorry I looked at it! I didn’t know- I’ll delete it right away-”

“No, don’t! Keep it for evidence,” Connie had a dark edge, “This jerk is gonna rot in a cell someday.”

“So, you’re not mad that I saw it?”

“Are you kidding? We’ve shared a body before! I'd rather it be you than anyone else. Although I’d hoped the first time you saw me like that would be different…”

“You, um…” Steven felt his face get hot as he realized the implications of her words. The first time? Different how?

“Oh god,” Connie gasped, “who else do you think saw it? That pervert probably showed it to all his gross friends.”

“Connie,” Steven said, trying to calm the fear he heard creep up in her voice, “I’ll get it taken care of. Lion took me to his house.”

“What?? Like, NOW?”

“Yeah. Sorry I forgot to mention that earlier. Guess I got caught up telling you the story. I’m hiding under a tree. Do you want Lion to come get you?”

“Yes, of course! Be careful, Steven! And don’t hide under a tree during a thunderstorm, you goof!”

“Oh, right,” he stepped out from under the tree, “Roger that, fellow knight. It’ll be ok, Connie.”

He hung up, gave Lion a nod, and the pink creature took off into the night.

Steven walked behind the house and threw the door open to the shed.

The room smelled like sweat, body spray, and that plant people smoked at Sour Cream’s raves sometimes. Football jerseys adorned the wall, with a shelf filled with gaudy trophies. Glass bottles overflowed from the trash can. A mattress was on the floor with yellowed sheets. And in a computer chair in the corner of a room was the massive form of Dex, illuminated on the left side by the light of his desktop monitor.

“You’re quick, little man,” he took a swig from a beer, “How’d you like that little present I sent you?”

Steven clenched his fist, so angry he couldn’t speak.

“Oh right, of course you wouldn’t like it. Faggot,” he grinned at his phone screen, “I’ll probably be using it, though. She’s got some really nice-”

“SHUT UP,” Steven roared, sending a pulse of energy through the room that sent several trophies crashing to the floor.

For a small moment, Dex’s eyes looked fearful, but he regained his composure knowing he still had the upper hand. “Watch your mouth, little man. You wouldn’t want me to accidentally send it to everyone before we could make our deal.”

“What do you want?” said Steven through clenched teeth.

“First, tell me what that spit of yours is able to do.”


	8. Deal with it

“My spit?” asked Steven.

“Yeah,” said Dex, “you know, that shit that healed my broken ribs in 2 seconds?”

“I mean, that’s what it does. It heals stuff. I don’t really know the limitations.”

Steven thought better than to mention that he brought someone back from the dead. He thought it might give Dex the incentive to kill someone just for the fun of it.

“Then I’ve got a job for you,” said Dex, “Then the picture gets deleted.”

Steven’s body visibly relaxed, “So you just want me to heal someone? Wow. You know I would have done that without you trying to blackmail Connie? You could have just asked.”

Dex snorted, “Yeah, right. Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do? You’re not going to ask me to hurt anyone?”

“If anyone needs to be hurt I prefer to do that myself. Why let you have all the fun?”

A light flashed in the room and Lion soared into their plane of existence, knocking trash and clothes on Dex’s floor as his paws slid to a stop. On his back, Steven’s pajama-clad friend had her sword drawn and pointed at Dex.

“I’m here, Steven!” Connie shouted, “This joker try anything?”

Dex was bracing himself against his desk, “Holy shit! Is that a LION? A PINK lion? What the fu-”

“Dex!” Steven said, putting his hands up, “It’s ok. Lion won’t hurt you.”

“Unless Steven tells him to!” said Connie, further pressing the sword towards Dex’s nose, “Then he’ll rip your throat out!”

“Um, kinda trying to de-escalate things here, Connie,” said Steven.

“Oh, right. You are the more diplomatic one.”

“You have. A magic. Lion,” Dex said, his breaths coming in heaves.

“Yeah,” Steven shrugged, as if someone was asking about a pet goldfish, “He’s pretty cool.”

“I hate cats. I’m allergic to them,” he took a few wheezing breaths before letting out a sneeze, “Get that thing out of here!”

Deciding to give no warning, Steven cleared his throat and spit on Dex’s face.

“WHAT THE HELL YOU LITTLE-” Dex wiped his cheek and started to come towards Steven.

“You’re welcome,” said Steven, as Connie suppressed a giggle, “Consider that some allergy medicine. No more sneezing, right?”

Dex paused and took some deep breaths, his nasal passage completely clear, “Whatever, I still don’t like it.”

“That’s too bad,” Steven said, “Lion stays. Now I need you to delete the picture off of your phone before I agree to help you.”

“Wait, help him with what?” asked Connie.

“Dex wants somebody healed.”

“Oh…” Connie’s face softened a little bit as she looked at Dex.

“Delete it now? Oh, I think I’ll keep it as collateral. Show me the healing first.”

“Then give me the phone,” Connie said, a stern look in her eyes.

“Well I guess I could do that,” Dex shrugged, “it’s the least I could do for you since I’ve gotten so much enjoyment out of it.” He exaggerated his last words as he gazed at her with a predatory smile.

“Give it to me now, asshole!” Lion stepped forward and Connie's sword pressed to Dex’s cheek, a drop of blood forming on the blade.

“Ok, fine! Damn, learn to take a compliment! By the way, I have it backed up somewhere else, so if you try to break my phone it won’t do you any good,” Dex tossed the phone up to her and walked towards the exit of the shed, “Meet me in the house in five minutes. I need to be sure the guy you’re gonna heal is awake.”

Steven gazed up at Connie, surprised by her aggression. He knew at least a portion of it was just her putting on a brave face. As soon as Dex’s back was to her Steven could see her face falter and tears spill over her cheeks. Steven attempted to reach out and take one of her shaking hands, but as soon as his finger touched hers she jerked it away.

She looked down from Lion at him, cradling the hand he had reached for. There was a wild, fearful look in her eyes that took several seconds to dissipate as she focused on him.

“I-I’m sorry. I should have asked,” Steven whispered, his voice cracking, “Do you need to go back home?”

“No, it’s ok,” she gave him a weak smile, “I just didn’t think it would be this hard to face someone like that. Someone who looked at me like that without my consent and then just- just taunted me about it.”

“I know. I know and I’m so sorry,” Steven put his face in his hands.

He heard the rustling of Connie dismounting Lion, and then felt her small, callused fingers prying one of his hands from his face, holding it firmly in hers, “Stop apologizing.”

“But it’s my fault!”

“It’s not!”

“Ok, let’s say it’s not. I looked at it and I keep looking in my head! No matter how much I tell myself I don’t want to the image won’t go away. So I’m sorry for that, too.”

“So,” Connie said, turning a deep shade of red, “you liked it, then?”

Steven turned away, but nodded. He took his hand from hers and folded his arms, “Don’t you think I’m a pervert or something now? I looked without your consent, too.”

“No, I don’t think that at all,” she said, “You looked on accident. And I’m- well, I’m attracted to you, too, Steven. So, we’ve got that out in the open now. It doesn’t have to be awkward. And you don’t have to keep apologizing.”

Steven stared at her, starry eyed and adoring, “You like me? I like you, too! I’ve liked you forever! Ever since I first saw you and even more every day after that! You’re wonderful, Connie.”

“Like” was the understatement of the year. Steven loved her. Was in love with her. Would follow her to the ends of the galaxy. However, now was not the time for that confession. He actually had detailed scenarios in a secret section of his wedding planning binder with all the different ways he could tell Connie he loved her. Some were in exotic places like Paris or the moon. Some involved a romantic dinner where he proposed to her with a glow bracelet. Some involved him dressed as Archimicarus, the talking falcon. They were probably all too over-the-top for Connie, though. And even the best scenarios did not involve a traumatizing piece of blackmail material in some smelly bully’s room.

“You’re pretty great yourself, Steven. Let’s focus on the task at hand, though,” Connie said.

Steven snapped back to reality as Connie gripped his hand, “Oh, right? I wonder who I’ll have to heal. Maybe he has a cute little sister with cancer or something.”

“Yeah, maybe. Think we should head in there?”

The two made their way out of the shed and through the yard, stepping over broken glass and around large scraps of metal. 

Steven told Lion to wait outside and tentatively opened the back door, “Hello? Are you ready for us?”

“Yeah, come on,” Dex said.

Something was off. The house was still dark. Dex was in the kitchen, and he appeared to be standing alone. There was no hospital bed or sickly person beside him, although the place smelled sickly enough.

“Dex? Who are we gonna heal? Are they awake?”

“He’s right here. My sorry excuse for a father. His name is Jacob.”

Steven looked down where Dex gestured at the crumpled limbs of a barely conscious man on the floor.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Connie.

“Haven’t you ever seen a fucking junkie, before?”

“No,” Connie admitted.

“Well aren’t you lucky?” Dex scoffed, “He’s been like this ever since my mom killed herself. They say addiction is a disease, so if you can cure broken bones and allergies or whatever, then cure this.”

Steven looked from Jacob to Dex, the smell of stale alcohol thick in the air between them, “I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up. People only pity others to feel better about themselves,” Dex nudged his father with his foot, producing an agitated moan from him, “Just get the job done so he stops blowing our cash on crank.”

Steven sighed, licked his hand, and placed it on the Jacob’s jutting cheek bone.

The man snorted as he startled awake, his eyes clear and alert, “Ugh, what the hell?” he looked at the three teenagers in front of him and stood, “Boy, did I say you could have company over?”

“It worked,” Dex whispered. He was smiling, which Steven realized he had never seen him do before.

“What worked?” Jacob asked, “Get these kids out of here. I’m too sober for this shit.”

“Dad, this is Steven. He just healed you. You were passed out, and now you’re completely upright. Isn’t that crazy?”

Jacob studied Steven for a second, and then turned to Dex with a back-handed slap to the face, “Stop talking crazy shit. You’ve gotta be high. I told you to stay out of my stash.”

The man walked over to the kitchen counter, cluttered with fast food wrappers, picked up a pipe, and struck a lighter. A sour smell soon filled the room.

Dex clutched the side of his face, looking at the floor, and turned towards Steven, “It. Didn’t. Work.”

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I mean, it worked on his physical symptoms, but my dad says getting over addiction has to come from within. He had a lot of music friends who got into bad stuff like that, so maybe-”

“SHUT UP! You’re useless! You’re a useless piece of shit, just like me!”

“Dex, you don’t have to live like this. I have friends you can stay with. Maybe we could-”

“I said shut up! Just give me my phone.”

“What?” said Steven, “You’re still gonna share the picture? What good would that do? I tried my best to help you!”

“Well, you didn’t. No one does. That was the deal. Give me the phone, now.”

Steven’s bubble went up around him and Connie as Dex advanced towards them. His face contorted in fury and he pounded on the bubble and looked for a way in. After several minutes of this, he threw his hands up and said “Fine, I don’t need my phone to share it. Just would have been easier. I can use my computer to get to it.”

“I bet the police will love that,” said Connie.

“What?” said Dex.

“We’ve got your phone, and Steven has his text from you on his end. And you’ve left evidence on your computer as well! Oh, and you probably haven’t noticed this, but I’ve recorded everything you’ve said since I got here,” Connie pulled her own phone from her pocket and played back the line where Dex said ‘I can use my computer to get to it.’

“You little bitch,” whispered Dex.

“Bitches get stuff done, Dex. Deal with it,” she pocketed her phone, “I did a little research on you on social media before I rode over here. You turn 18 next week, huh?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“That means you’re old enough to be charged as an adult for possession of child pornography. Anyways, the police are on their way over. I phoned them as soon as I saw your dad slap you.”

In that moment, police lights flashed from outside. Dex's eyes darted towards his dad and he blinked back tears.

“They’ll lock him up for this. He’s all I have left.”

Connie’s face fell, and she looked away from Dex.

Catching the bad guy always looked more fun in the movies. Steven figured in real life, being the one to break up a family never felt good, even if it was for the best.

Hours passed. Both Dex and his father were taken into custody. Evidence was collected in the house of the drug use, and in Dex’s shed. Connie and Steven’s parents were called. Connie’s mom collapsed into her arms sobbing after learning what Dex had threatened to do to her. Steven refused to leave her side, clutching her hand in his, and only relenting when the police insisted on separating them for questioning.

Connie and Steven finally made it back to their houses at 5:30am.

Steven crawled into his bed, his limbs heavy with exhaustion. Sleep eluded him, as he kept thinking about the scraggly man on that dirty kitchen floor who he couldn’t heal. When he finally did fall asleep, it was not at all restful. His dream self traveled to Dex’s consciousness, who had nightmares far worse than Kiki’s pizza monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty then, that chapter got pretty personal for me. Whew! Who else writes fanfic instead of going to a therapist? *nervous laughter*  
> Let me know your thoughts. I felt weird at first writing Connie using a little profanity, but I feel like she would if the situation called for it. It was part of her brave facade that helped her face Dex. And speaking of Dex, it felt good to finally get him away from Steven and Connie! I don't think this is the last we will see or hear from him, but he will for sure no longer be a main OC, allowing other subplots to get some development.


	9. The Protector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song lyrics I’ve included in this chapter are not my own; full credit for the song goes to YouTuber LittleJayneyCakes. I listen to her music when I’m writing a scene that needs a lot of emotion, or when I’m just really in my own head about my own emotions. I actually got permission from her to use her lyrics in my fic, and she’s super cool! She also has several SU song covers, so she’s a fan as well! The song included in this chapter is called “Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall,” and I could so picture Steven singing it. Please give it a listen and you’ll know what I mean!

After Connie knocked on the door, she had to adjust her gaze downward to meet Steven’s eyes. He was back to his default height, maybe just an inch taller. The new dress shirt his dad bought him for his “growth spurt” was now hanging off him and almost to his knees.

“Heyyyy, there Connie,” he said, pushing his sleeves up hopelessly, “This outfit isn’t gonna work for meeting your grandma, is it?”

She couldn’t help but smile, “Oh, Steven. I’m sorry. I know you liked your new clothes.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll grow into them again. Eventually. I was hoping that I could at least wear them to the Fall dance next month.”

Ahh, the Fall dance. Steven was ridiculously excited for the hayride. It was an unspoken assumption that Connie and Steven would go together, but Sarah stressed that unless they went with a group, it would be like publicly declaring that they were “an item.” Connie had never felt so psyched out by dancing since before the first time her and Steven fused.

He unbuttoned and took off his shirt. She also noticed a little more definition to his shoulders and jawline. He smelled of aftershave, and she wondered if he’d sprouted any more chin hairs.

“Hey,” she said, “it’s not like you’re not growing at all. Just slowly.”

“Yeah, I know,” he reached in the closet under the stairs and pulled out the tux from Garnet’s wedding, holding it against him, “Sorry, I don’t mean to be weird about it. I just thought that maybe my growth spurt was permanent. I mean, I wasn’t stretching, so how was I to know it was just from the fact that I was feeling emotionally older dealing with someone like Dex?”

Connie shrugged, “Well, at least this time you didn’t almost die of old age.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” he finished buttoning up the tux shirt and yawned as he sat down. Connie noticed the dark circles that had been around his eyes ever since the incident with Dex several days ago had not subsided.

“You’re still not sleeping?” she asked.

Steven looked at his hands, “I sleep a little bit. I’m sure I’ll get back on schedule soon.”

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m just working on some new songs and I guess I’ve been staying up late. What about you?”

“Oh, yeah I’m fine.”

They both looked away from each other and an awkward silence swelled between them. Connie missed when their silences were filled with contentment and comfort.

The initial reason Steven told her that he wasn’t sleeping well was because he was “still processing the stuff with Dex,” but she wondered if that partially meant he was still processing the stuff with her that happened on that night as well. They had told each other that they were attracted to each other, and neither of them had mentioned it since then. The weight of mentioning it might incur further action. What did people do after admitting they liked each other? They usually started dating- and that never ended well with high school couples, right? They would date, and then break up because they weren’t “mature enough for that kind of relationship yet” (according to her mother). They could potentially ruin their friendship in that process.

Connie couldn’t stand the thought of losing her first and best friend to a immature romance.

If she told Steven that, would he understand? What if he asked her out? Would it ruin the friendship if she said no, too?

“Um, Connie?” Steven was standing in his tux, his hand extended to her, “You were spacing out there for a bit. You ready to head out?”

“Yeah,” she shook her head, stood without taking his hand for help, and walked with him to his dad’s van to head to her house.

“I can’t believe your mom wanted me to meet your grandma,” Steven said, “She must like me at least a little bit by now.”

Connie snickered, “You have no idea. She thinks you saved my life and reputation from a sexual predator.”

“You pretty much did that yourself. I guess I helped, though. Maybe you’re the superhero and I’m the sidekick!”

“What? No way!”

“You know I don’t see you as a sidekick, right?” His eyes locked on hers, turning in his seat “I want us to always face our challenges as equals. Like, I have these crazy powers that I’m learning to control, but you manage to be amazing even though your mom wasn’t born a space goddess. And even if I become as powerful as Pink was someday, I’m never going to stop trying to live up to how incredible you are.”

“Steven, I-” Connie felt her face turn hot, and she had to look away from his starry gaze.

Mr. Universe cleared his throat, “Um, I hate to interrupt the moment, but we’re at your house, Connie.”

“Right, ok!” Connie said, bolting out of the car and talking a little too loudly.

She looked back to see Mr. Universe saying something encouraging to Steven and patting his cheek. Steven nodded and hopped out of the van.

A few minutes later Connie, Steven, and Connie’s grandmother were all sitting on her floral couches, as the smell of Mr. Maheswaran’s best Tandoori chicken wafted through the room. Steven had presented Connie’s mom with bottles of the grocery store’s finest sparkling grape juice- both red and white. He had told Connie’s grandmother that she looked lovely and that he was honored to meet her. However, since then the old croan had just stared at the two of them in silent judgement.

“A tuxedo?” she finally said, “Did you come from a wedding?”

“Actually, this is from a wedding! It’s the only thing I have that fits besides t-shirts. I had a nice shirt from Connie, but it got this huge rip when I was fighting a ge-” he stopped after Connie elbowed him in the side, “I mean, when I tripped? Heheh.”

“So your parents don’t even teach you how to look nice besides for a wedding? For goodness’s sake, boy, you look like a ten-year-old waiter. You shouldn’t be getting your only nice clothes from my granddaughter.”

“Well, my dad could get me nicer clothes. I just don’t have a lot of reasons to wear them?”

“I see,” she stood abruptly, went to the kitchen, and for the next 20 minutes could be heard bickering with Connie’s mother in Hindi.

Connie could pick up a few phrases, and was glad that Steven could not understand her. 

When Steven and Connie were finally called into dinner, they sat down to the kind of meal one only makes when trying to impress company. The table was filled with aromatic chicken, rice, hummus, naan bread, and cucumber salad. 

“Wow, this looks amazing Mr. Maheswaran!” Steven said, cupping his cheeks in excitement.

“Well, thank you Steven. I hope you like it.”

Steven grabbed a bottle from the chilled bucket on the table behind them, cleared his throat and presented the bottle with the label facing Connie on his forearm like waiters did in fancy restaurants, “The chicken would be well complimented with our white juice, m’am. Would you like a glass?”

Connie couldn’t help but giggle, “Oh, yes please! I’ll be giving you a good tip.”

The two of them started snickering, but abruptly stopped when Connie’s mother asked her to pass the naan in a tone that was a little to stern to just be about naan.

For the next several minutes, there was just the sound of their eating utensils at work, punctuated by bits of small talk about work, school, or how the food was prepared. Connie’s dad told a story in a dramatic fashion about some punks he caught on his security rounds, and everyone cracked up when he told them the kid with spray paint, who wore the shirt that said “Born to be Bad,” literally peed himself when cornered with a flashlight. Throughout the conversation, people sprinkled compliments in about the meal he’d made. Even Connie’s grandmother praised the chicken, and she was not one to give compliments just to be polite. 

“Thank you, Mama,” he said proudly.

“Yes, thank you dear,” Connie’s mother said, smiling at him and touching his hand. Connie figured her gratitude was more for his ability to keep everyone civil than for the food alone.

“Yes, well it’s good someone in this family can cook,” said Connie’s grandmother under her breath. 

“Nonsense, Priyanka can cook just fine, but I am more than happy to step in so she can have more time visiting with you, Mama,” Connie’s dad said, “She also has a much more demanding work schedule than me, so it makes sense for me to cook.”

“Yes well,” Connie’s mom cut in quickly, “Have you gotten to know Steven that well yet, mother?”

Nice save, Connie thought. She could tell her grandmother was about to berate her dad for not having a more high profile job.

“Right,” said Grandma, “the little waiter boy. Well, he seems nice enough. And I thank him for his noble effort Priyanka told me about with that horrible bully at school. I still don’t think he’s good enough for our Connie, though.”

Connie felt anger flare in her chest. She could take the little jabs from her Grandmother in stride, but she couldn’t stand her insulting Steven.

“C-Connie?” asked her mom, “Is something wrong? Sit back down, please.”

Connie looked down, just realizing she had stood up from her seat, “Something is wrong, Mom. Grandma, even from you, I expected better. You haven’t even given Steven a chance. All you’ve done since we got here is either insult him or ignore him, and he’s been nothing but nice to you.”

Her grandma leaned back in her seat, unphased by Connie’s outburst, “Well, of course he’s nice to me. He’s just trying to impress me because he likes you.”

“That’s not true! I mean- well, I mean that’s not the only reason he’s being nice. That’s just who he is! He’s the nicest, most genuine person I’ve ever met! Don’t put me on a pedestal just because I’m smart. Of course Steven is good enough for me!”

“Well then,” Grandma switched her focus to Steven, “let’s see if that’s true. Where do you picture yourself five years from now, Steven?”

“Oh, that’s easy! I’d like to make TubeTube videos of my music. I’ll probably do work with my family and do college part time on the side. Maybe I could get a part time job on the boardwalk? Man, I’m rambling. Heh, there’s so much potential!”

“‘Potential.’ Alright, that’s one word for it. And where is Connie amidst these ambitions of yours?”

“We’re married,” Steven turned red and his eyes darted to Connie before adding, “if she wants to be, of course. Even if we’re not married, we’ll still be best friends.”

“And you plan on providing for her, with music and a part time job?”

“Well, I don’t know that much about paying bills yet-”

“And you realize that she probably won’t be in this tiny tourist trap of a town in five years, right? She’ll probably be at an Ivy League University in another State by then. Do you make the grades to get into one of those, given you unique schooling background?”

“What, Connie? You’re gonna go far away for college?” Steven turned to her.

“Well,” Connie said, “it’s just an option. I figured we’d talk more about it when we’re Seniors.”

Steven nodded, “You’re right. We’re still kids. We’ve got time to figure this out.”

“Even still,” Connie’s grandmother interjected, “Thinking of the future now is important. Connie, could you see yourself marrying Steven?”

“I-I don’t know! He’s my best friend! I just want him to be my best friend, but I don’t know what else I want him to be! I don’t know anything about marriage!”

“Exactly. There’s a lot you don’t know. Which brings us to the reason I’ve come here,” her grandmother said smoothly.

“I knew it,” Priyanka spat, “I knew you were up to something rather than ‘just dropping in.’”

“Hush, Priyanka,” she turned back to her granddaughter, “Connie, I know a nice boy from a respectable Indian family. He actually goes to your school. He’s 17, and has already been accepted into a pre-med program. His name is Santosh. I think it might be worth your while to at least meet him, and then perhaps when you’re of age-”

“Enough!” Priyanka said, “Mother, you have overstepped your bounds! Steven has become part of our family, and I won’t have you drag him through the mud just as a way to set up your golden boy! You can’t just control everyone’s lives like this. You have to let children make at least some of their own choices in order for them to be happy! That’s why I let Connie see Steven as often as possible. I trust him to be good to her.”

“Ms. Maheswaran,” Steven whispered, tears budding at the corners of his eyes before he hugged her, “I love you guys, too!”

“Whoa, hello there Steven,” Connie’s mother gingerly patted his poof of head hair, “It’s ok, I’m sorry I suggested this. I thought maybe there was a chance that it would go well.”

Steven smiled at her, “Hey, you were just trying to have a family dinner. I’m just happy that I’m a part of that family, even if it’s a little weird. You know mine is weird, too!”

Steven backed up and looked at Connie, “Do you actually mind if I head out? I’m feeling pretty tired.”

“Oh,” Connie said, “Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks for coming, Steven.”

She bent down to hug him and he gave her a squeeze.

He thanked Connie's parents for the meal, and then turned to her grandmother, “It’s nice to meet you. I know we think differently, but I consider anyone who loves Connie a friend.”

Grandmother was uncharacteristically silent.

Steven stepped out of the house, and Connie endured the rest of the evening until she was excused to get ready for bed. She laid awake for a while, not really understanding what she wanted. She didn’t want to marry Steven, but she definitely didn’t want to give up Steven for some boring, pretentious guy who sucked up to her grandma named Santosh. She didn’t want to give him up for anyone. She was barely drifting to sleep when she heard a familiar scratching at her window.

“Lion?” she grumbled, “What is it? Is something wrong?”

The cat groaned and put his head down in an invitation for her to mount him.

“Ok,” she hopped on, slinging her sword over her shoulder, “Take me to the trouble, buddy.”

In a few seconds, she had warped to the beach house, the only light on from a lamp in the corner of Steven’s bedroom.

Connie shivered. There was a cool front blowing in that night. They walked up to the house, and before going in the doorway Lion placed a paw on her lips, which she assumed was a signal to be quiet. 

The front door was ajar, so the two of them were able to walk in without making a sound. Connie noticed a trail of clothing leading up to the bed- first the bowtie, then shoes, a cumberbund, and a belt.

“Ok, Lion I think I have it finished,” Steven mumbled.

Lion hopped up on Steven’s bed and yawned in response. Connie stayed in the doorway, observing Steven with his unbuttoned white shirt sitting at the electronic piano he had set up at the foot of his bed.

Steven started to play a sweet sort of lullaby on the piano, and began to sing:

“Goodbye summer, hello fall  
I can hear rainstorms approaching  
As the colors start to change,  
Why do I still feel the same?

Goodbye summer, hello fall  
The smell of cinnamon is wafting,  
As the leaves continue falling,  
I still haven't changed at all.”

Steven’s songs were usually so happy that at first she thought it was just about the changing seasons. However, the melody swelled and fell into melancholic crescendos, and the song now seemed to be more about someone who felt left behind. Connie shifted her sword on her back, which she knew would do no good in this situation.

Steven wiped his eyes with his sleeve and continued:

“Memories of chilly autumn days spent in the sun,  
Nostalgia from a moment safe in time.  
I know I can't go forward, but I know I can't go back.  
So insecure, I'd rather watch the seasons pass me by.

Goodbye summer, hello fall  
I can hear rainstorms approaching  
As the colors start to change,  
Why do I still feel the same?

Goodbye summer, hello fall  
The smell of cinnamon is wafting,  
As the leaves continue falling,  
I still haven't changed at all.

And when you left, I heard you calling,  
‘Goodbye summer, hello fall’

Memories of chilly autumn days spent in the sun,  
Nostalgia from a moment lost in time.  
The path ahead's uncertain and I know I can't go back.  
But maybe you're the spark of hope that I was meant to find

Goodbye summer, hello fall  
I'll find courage in the changes,  
As Earth spins and rearranges,  
I will walk this path of mine.”

Connie was relieved to hear the hopeful notes in that last verse. Steven always at least ended his songs with hope.

Steven sighed and put his head down on the piano, “I don’t want to go to sleep, Lion. I don’t know how I can help him.”

“S-steven?” Connie felt horribly intrusive, but she figured she should announce herself before he said anything else he didn’t intend for her to hear.

He jumped and turned to see Connie standing in the doorway, “Oh, hey Connie! How long have you been there?”

“Well, long enough to hear your new song. I liked it. I-I’m sorry. Lion brought me here and I thought there was an emergency. I wasn’t trying to spy on you.”

“No, I’m glad he did,” Steven gave her a tired smile, and she knew he meant it.

She sat down next to him on the piano bench.

Steven yawned and slouched in his seat. Connie placed her arm around his shoulders and he leaned into her. It felt nice. It was strange how she felt the urge to protect Steven, even though she was sure he could physically handle himself at this point. Their fighting skills used to be on such even footing, before Steven had a better grasp on his powers. Perhaps she could protect him with more than just her sword now.

“Hey, Steven?”

“Yeah?”

“Was that song- was it about me? About how I’m growing up without you?”

“Yeah. I mean, what if I age so slow that I’m physically 12 when you’re 29? That wouldn’t be a big deal if we were just friends, but what if we want to…” he trailed off and tensed a little in her arms.

“I know. It’s scary to think about. You’ve really thought about marrying me?”

“Only a whole lot.”

“Oh, Steven,” Connie sighed, “I don’t know what the future holds, but let’s just focus on one day- one night- at a time. And for this night, you need to get some sleep.”

“I’ll try.”

“I heard what you were saying to Lion. What were you talking about? Who do you need to help?”

Steven sighed, “Dex.”

“What? Is that jerk messing with you in your dreams now, too?”

“No! No, it’s not like that. I mean, he’s not as much of a jerk in his dreams. I don’t think he knows I’m the real Steven. I mean, why would he? He’s not as guarded as when he’s awake. The first night, I helped him with some pretty dark stuff, and he keeps calling out to me every time I go to sleep, to get him out of these nightmares. He just seems so helpless.”

“Oh my gosh, Steven, I had no idea.”

“And I just- I can’t do it anymore! I told him that last night, but his nightmares are all blended with mine now. I’m lucky if I get an hour of actual sleep each night!”

She hugged him closer, “It’s ok. You don’t have to do it anymore. Dex is going to have a therapist, and a psychologist, and who knows what else to help with that screwed up past of his. You are not a mental health professional, and you can’t heal everyone you see- even with magic spit. You can’t be magic to everyone.”

“Right. I know you’re right,” Steven yawned, “But what if Dex-”

“What if I stay with you?”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. We slept next to each other when we were imprisoned on Homeworld. It’s not that much different now.”

“I guess you’re right. Do you think it will help?”

“I think so. We always want to be around each other. So if your subconscious knows I’m next to you, then maybe I can help keep you grounded here instead of going into Dex’s dream.”

“That makes sense.”

Connie crawled under the covers and he followed, curling into her. His head was nestled in the crook of her neck, and his soft, billowy hair brushed her chin. She rubbed his back, like her mom did when she couldn’t sleep, and he draped his right arm across her waist, tracing small circles in her back with his thumb.

“Connie, thank you,” he said in a thick, drowsy voice.

She shushed him, and within another minute his breathing slowed into sleep. Connie laid awake for a while, watching the rise and fall of his chest and the peaceful look on his face. It looked like her plan had worked. Steven was safe, and she fell asleep feeling like the protector that she was.


	10. Love like you

“You are needed in Steven’s room. There is a situation.”

“Pearl?” Greg asked in a low, groggy voice, “Geez, is everyone ok? It’s 6am.”

“Well, no one is bleeding, dismembered, or missing if that’s what you mean.”

Greg sighed and rubbed his eyes as he sat up, “You know, most people with phones start with ‘hello.’”

“That seems a pointless pretense between us, don’t you think?”

“Touché. I’ll be right over.”

A few minutes later Greg was standing with Pearl, who had her arms crossed while staring at Steven’s sleeping form.

“I’ve been keeping watch since 3 am when I came out of my room. I don’t think anything inappropriate happened.”

“‘Inappropriate?’ Pearl um, you know when a boy reaches his age it’s natural to-”

“No, I don’t mean that!” Pearl whispered, her cheeks flushing blue.

There was a moaning as the covers next to Steven moved and what looked to be Connie’s arm flopped out from under the comforter.

“Oh. That.”

Pearl rolled her eyes and dragged him outside by the wrist.

“Have you given Steven ‘the talk’ yet?”

“Well, partially. I told him about kissing, and that people kind of do this thing naked that he for sure shouldn't do until he's older.”

“Does he know what could happen if he does do it?”

“I may have left that part out.”

“Really, Greg, how could you be so careless? Fine, I’ll do it.”

“No! I mean, no. I should do it. I’m the human in the situation, so I should be the one to explain ‘human fusion.’ You’ll just make it seem all clinical and gross.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Well, sometimes. Maybe you should try it. Steven told me about that pink-haired rocker girl.”

Pearl scoffed, looking away “Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t even stand the thought of eating.”

“So, are they both fully clothed?”

“Yes.”

“Then they probably didn’t do anything other than sleep. Man, my pal Ricky got a girl knocked up when he was just a couple of years older than Steven. Good musician, terrible father. I hope I'm a good father, but I have pretty low standards."

“I just- how could you not warn him?!” Pearl was almost shouting, and tears budded in the corners of her eyes.

“Whoa, Pearl! I’m sorry, ok? I’m just not used to the fact that he’s so grown up. I know he doesn’t look like he is, but I should have told him this stuff a long time ago.”

“But we don’t know what will happen if he gets Connie pregnant. What if-” Pearl’s voice broke, and she covered her mouth as she huddled on the ground.

“Oh hey, Pearl,” he crouched next to her and slowly hugged her close to him, prepared to jump back if she recoiled at his attempt at comfort, “Are you afraid he would disappear? Like Rose did?”

Pearl covered her face and nodded, “I mean, them fusing was one thing, but my only experience with human sexuality has been, well, not good.”

“Yeah, I know. And for the millionth time, I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be. She chose you. And I wouldn’t give up Steven for anything. If I could have Rose back right now- If I could have her right here in front of me, all to myself, loving me in the same way I loved her, I wouldn’t do it. Not if it meant losing Steven. Not ever.”

“I think that's one thing we can both agree on. It feels wrong sometimes, missing her in front of him, right? He used to ask me all the time if I wished she was back. Or if I wished he wasn't there. It broke my heart. No kid should have to wonder that.”

Pearl just nodded. The two of them sat, as the sunrise set the horizon ablaze.

“Can you let me go now? The gesture is appreciated, but you need a shower.”

“Oh,” Greg released Pearl and scooted over, “Right, I probably do. You didn’t exactly give me a lot of notice to get ready.”

Pearl laughed, “You humans and your odors.”

“Hey, Steven’s gonna be smelling just as fragrant as me pretty soon.”

“Ha! Don’t I know it? You’re not the one doing his laundry anymore, remember?”

“Hey, Pearl?”

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t just forget to tell Steven about where babies come from.”

Pearl turned towards him, cocking her head.

“I thought a conversation about where babies came from would lead to a conversation about where HE came from. He should know that portion of it, too. It’s just every time I think of telling him that story I’m a total wreck for the rest of the day. It’s bad enough that I have these marks on my body every day to remind me of it,” he touched his arm, where most people just thought he had a skin condition or a perpetual pink sunburn, “but to tell it again? I don’t know how I’m going to do that. To him or myself.”

Greg heard a weird choking sound escape his throat, and by the time his brain partially resurfaced from his memories Pearl was hugging him and he was sobbing.

“S-she- her body. It DISSOLVED right in front of me,” he could barely get his words out, but he had to try. He couldn’t be like this when he said it in front of Steven. The poor kid already beat himself up enough for being the reason his mom was gone.

Pearl shivered, and Greg said, “Are you sure you can handle hearing this?”

She backed up to look into his eyes, “No, but I want to. Please keep going. Please tell me what it was like when she gave us Steven.”

“Her gem- it started to get sucked inside of her. She was in pain. And she just started turning into mist. I was covered in it. I tried to grasp for her one more time. I tried to save her. But I knew I was totally helpless. And then it was just me, standing there with no real job, no house, and a baby. A baby! I was 27 and could barely care for myself. God, I was terrified every day that I would lose Steven, too. I was in way over my head. I don’t know how we survived those first few years.”

Pearl leaned in, silent tears spilling down her cheeks, but with an expression that indicated she wanted him to continue.

“You know she didn’t tell me? She didn’t tell me that she would disappear until it was too late. At that point it was either lose her or the baby. And I felt so angry with her. I felt like she betrayed me, deceived me. I knew she wasn’t human, and didn’t really understand what it meant to leave someone with the burden of being a single parent after just ceasing to exist in front of them. But I knew there was nothing that could be done, so I just started trying to be a good future dad. I tried to get behind her focus on how amazing it was that Steven was about to exist. Soon that was all I focused on. We had so much fun making that tape for him, and I wouldn’t even acknowledge that we were making it because he would never meet her. I held on to that dream I first had that we would get married someday and raise him together. I held onto it until I literally felt her slip through my fingers.”

Pearl was silent for a long moment, “Did she say anything?”

Greg nodded, “Two things. First she said ‘I’m sorry I never stopped running away from them.’ I didn’t know what she meant then. I thought she was delirious. Now I know she meant the Diamonds. I guess the only way to run away from yourself is to literally become someone else. She came pretty close by becoming Rose, but she still had Pink’s memories.”

“So, do you think she made Steven to just run away?” Anger began to rise in Pearl’s voice. He knew she felt just as abandoned as he did, maybe more.

“No. I think that was how it started, but I don’t think that was her core motivation.”

“What was?”

“She always told me ‘I just want to love like you.’ She wanted to learn how to love. It sounds like she didn’t learn that very well at home. And there’s no higher love than a parent has for their child. The last thing she said before she faded away, was when she looked down at Steven just appearing where her stomach used to be, and she said ‘I love you.’”

Pearl pulled her knees in close and placed her forehead on them. 

“Are you ok?”

Pearl nodded, not lifting her head up, “Just processing.”

“Yeah, it’s a lot.”

“Who would have thought,” she said, lifting her head and smiling, “that she would have taught me to love, too. I loved her, of course, but Steven? I don’t know who I would be if I didn’t know that kind of love, too.”

The two of them sat there and let the ocean waves wash over their thoughts. Eventually, Greg broke the silence by asking Pearl if she remembered the time Rose first tried a donut and then proceeded to eat every donut in the store before learning she had to pay for them. Steven clearly got that obsession from her. Pearl brought up the time she brought home a pack of abandoned baby racoons, who would bite everyone who approached them but her, and she scolded Garnet for trying to bubble them. Within 20 minutes they were both buckled over laughing over their shared memories.”

Greg smiled, as the glittering, endless ocean before him stretched over the curve of the planet his lover so wanted to protect. He understood now more than ever that she was just a young runaway with a screwed up homelife- just like he was. He wanted to escape to space, she wanted to escape to earth, and in the middle they found each other.

“Hey guys,” Steven stood before them, yawning. His hair was flattened on one side from sleep.

“Hi there, Schtu-ball,” said Greg, “How’d you sleep?”

“Great! Connie spent the night. Sorry I didn’t ask, but she texted her parents. I haven’t been sleeping well, so she thought sleeping next to me would help and it totally worked!” He stretched, with a big grin on his face, “Anyways, the Big Donut is about to open, so I’m gonna get in the shower after her and-”

“Whoa there, buddy,” Greg stopped Steven as he turned back towards the house, “Let’s go back to my place for a little bit after you grab breakfast. We need to have a talk about some stuff.”

“Oh, sure. Is everything ok, dad?”

“Yeah, I was just wondering, do you know why Pearl would be concerned at all about seeing you and Connie sleeping in the same bed together? Now that you two are in high school?”

Steven looked between the two, screwed up his face in thought, and slowly said, “Well, I know I can be a blanket hog sometimes.”

Pearl gave Greg and approving smile, and headed into the house. It was going to be a very long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray for the Greg chapter! Hooray for Steven FINALLY learning where babies come from! Don't worry, you won't have to endure Greg stumbling through the science of human reproduction and showing Steven how to put a condom on a banana before they start just blowing them up into balloons and drawing faces on them; I'll just leave that conversation as implied. I live for the bond that Greg and Pearl have over losing Rose, and found I wanted to emphasize that more than the awkwardness of talking to a kid about sex. Anyways, please leave comments if you like the story. It gives me motivation to keep going and helps me know what parts are reaching readers the most. You guys are helping me become a better writer, so thank you!


	11. Not Prepared

“Thanks for helping me with this, Sarah!”

“No problem! I think that this is a great idea. Hopefully it will really unify the student body over what happened.”

Sarah and Steven finished hanging the last poster and stood back to admire their work. They had both been excused from 7th period to make preparations for the assembly.

“That’s what I hoped!” said Steven, “I’m also glad the principal went for it. She said she felt bad for excusing Dex’s actions for so long.”

In the weeks that followed Dex being removed from school, bullying was a hot topic at Sea City High. People became inspired to come forward about times they were harassed either physically, psychologically, or sexually by Dex- and by other students as well. It was happening so frequently, that the school needed something to encourage the students and let them know that their concerns were being addressed. Steven thought he knew just the person who could help with this.

“So, has your friend done other school assemblies?” Sarah asked, packing up the tape, “That’s some costume.”

“They’ve done many in their heart! But yeah, this is their first one since they’ve only consciously existed maybe 5 minutes.”

“What?”

“What?” Steven replied, realizing he said something about fusion that probably didn’t make sense, “Oh, nothing. Hey, you ready to head to book club?”

“Oh, sure!” she skipped to catch up with Steven as he turned towards the little classroom they used for their club every other week.

“I can’t wait to see what Connie thought of the first book in the ‘So I guess I go to a Magic School Now’ series!" Steven said, "I found Gary really relatable.”

“Oh, did you? Why? I would think you were more like the main character’s jokester best friend, Shawn.”

“Well, I know what it’s like to have a dead parent, and to feel like everyone expects you to be like them even though you didn’t know them. Also to feel like everyone around you is more powerful than you are.”

“Your parents are dead?”

“Well, just my mom. I’m really lucky to have my dad and my aunts around. I’ve had a lot of support, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish things could have been different, you know? I’ve spent so much of my childhood trying to figure out who my mom was so that I could live up to that image. I just barely decided that the most important thing is finding out who I am.”

“Wow,” Sarah smiled at Steven, her blue eyes sparkling with emotion, “I never would have taken you as someone who’s gone through that sort of thing. You come off as so carefree.”

“Oh! Um, thanks!” Steven scratched the back of his neck, looking away from Sarah.

“So, have you been able to find out a lot of stuff about your mom?”

Steven thought for several seconds before speaking. Keeping his gem identity a secret was harder than he thought. For a second he thought about telling Sarah and the other book club members everything, but he remembered the last time he revealed his powers to someone at school it ended up not going well at all.

“My dad recently told me the story about how I was born. It was hard to hear, because that’s when she died. I’m glad he told me, though. It was just another reminder of how much she loved me, you know? That’s the main thing someone wants from a parent, right?”

“Hmm,” Sarah mused, “Yeah, you’re right.”

Steven laughed, still feeling uneasy about keeping part of himself hidden, “So, what about your parents? What are they like?”

“Oh, my parents and I are all dorks. We have board game nights every Monday, and go to renaissance faires together. They’re both teachers. My mom does English and my dad does Life Skills, both at the same middle school. This is lame, but I kind of miss running into them during the day at school now that I’m a freshman.”

“I don’t think that sounds lame at all! You guys are close, and that’s awesome. I miss being around my family as much as I was before coming here, too. It’s been nice, though- meeting so many new people, you know?”

“Yeah, I’d definitely agree with that.”

The two of them reached room #204, with the door decorated with the laminated poster that read “Fantasy Book Club” in large, bubbly letters, and the borders covered in drawings of the favorite characters of all the members.

Ben sat in the corner, his shaggy mop of red hair hiding his eyes as he rushed to finish the last few pages of that month’s book. According to Connie, that’s how he was with last month’s book as well. He didn’t seem as into the books as the other members were, but he went to any club Sarah did. They grew up playing together since their moms were best friends, and he was a lot more shy with making new friends than she was.

“Oh, hey Sarah,” he said, looking up.

“Hey, man,” she said, taking her seat next to Steven. Ben sighed and buried his nose back in the book.

Connie sat talking to Sandy, who was another newer member like Steven. She was very animated when she spoke, using large hand motions and dramatic facial expressions. Her hair was arranged in wild spikes, and she wore several choker necklaces.

“Oh, hey Steven! Hey Sarah!” said Connie, “Any news?”

“Well, we just finished preparing for the assembly Steven put together for tomorrow!”

“Oh, that’s awesome!” said Connie, and she turned to Sarah, “What about the other thing?”

“Um, not yet,” Sarah flushed a deep red.

“What other-” Steven started, but was interrupted by Sarah calling the group together.

“Ok guys, we have all of our members present now! I think it’s time we start the meeting. Did everyone finish the book?”

Everyone in the group nodded, even Ben, who had just barely slammed the novel shut.

“Great! This month’s selection was by Connie, so she’ll be the one leading the discussion. Take it away, Connie!”

Connie sat up a little straighter and cleared her throat. Steven took in everything about her. Her wavy hair was in shoulder-length pigtails. She wore a gauzy, white top that flowed away from her with skinny jeans and flats. Steven wondered if she was drawing some fashion inspiration from Pearl. She spoke quickly, like she did when she was passionate about something, and described the cultural symbolism and significance to “So I guess I go to a Magic School Now.”

“Alright, so what were your thoughts on Gary?” she asked, referring to the main character of the series.

“Characters with that hero complex are a little annoying,” said Sandy, “A lot of the stuff would have been much easier if he relied on his friends more.”

Connie smiled, giving a side eye at Steven, “You’re right, but I think part of his arc is that he learns to do that more towards the end of the book.”

Steven gave Connie a subtle, unapologetic shrug. She definitely would have already guessed how much he related Gary.

The discussion went on another 30 minutes, after which the members shared snacks, fanart, and just caught up on life. Ben didn’t say much of anything, and Steven was determined to draw him out of his shell more.

“Hey there,” he said, taking a seat next to Ben.

“Hi Steven,” he said, not looking up from his sketchbook.

“I really liked your fanart earlier. I wish I could draw hands that well.”

A smile twitched in the corner of Ben’s mouth, “Thanks. Just takes practice.”

“So, are you going to the dance?”

Ben’s lips tightened and he slumped a little more than he already had been, “Don’t have anyone to go with.”

“Oh, well you could just go with friends, right? I’ll be going.”

“Not interested, thanks. The only person I want to go with wants to go with someone else.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you have a different fun thing you can do that night instead. My friend, Sadie, is having a concert that night. I could probably score you a ticket.”

“No, thanks.”

“Ok,” Steven shifted, watching Ben sketch, “Do you mind if I watch you draw?”

Ben sighed, “It’s a free country.”

“I didn’t ask about if it was legal. I asked if you minded.”

“How considerate. In that case yes, I do mind.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll respect your boundaries!” Steven backed up and went back over to where Connie, Sandy, and Sarah talked. He wondered what made Ben so much more morose than he was the last meeting.

After the club dispersed, Steven’s phone beeped with a text from Connie. He pulled it out and it read “By the way, when she asks you, I already told her I was ok with it.”

Another text quickly followed, “Not that you need my permission! I just wanted to let you know that she asked me.”

“What? Ask me?” Steven mumbled to himself.

“Hey, wait up!” Sarah ran up to him, hugging a few new books from the library close to her chest. Her freckled hands shook.

“Oh, what’s up Sarah?”

“Y-you don’t have to answer now, but here!”

She thrusted a piece of paper into his hand, folded into an origami heart. By the time Steven unfolded it, Sarah was out of sight. In very small print, the paper read “Will you be my date to the dance” followed by 2 check-boxes that read “yes” and “no.”

“Oh,” he said, unable to move for several seconds.

He wasn’t sure whether to focus more on the paper in his hands, or the text in his pocket condoning the paper’s message. The paper was from a girl who was cute, nice, and shared his interests. The text was from his best friend, and the same person he had freely admitted to wanting to marry someday. Was this her way of saying that she didn’t want that?

“The Talk” Dad gave him recently had not prepared him for this scenario.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll give y'all one guess what series "So I guess I go to a Magic School Now" with Gary and Shawn is based off of (I'm a Hufflepuff, btw). XD  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to just focus on the high school experience in this one rather than anything too dramatic.


	12. Make a Choice

Connie was 80% sure that she was not ok with this. 

“Can I sit here?” asked a tall boy in the crowded amphitheater. Connie nodded without looking up.

Steven had told Sarah yes. He had every right to, of course. He was Connie’s best friend, but they weren’t dating. So why did she care so much that he was going with Sarah?

“This is so weird,” said the boy, “what do they think some guy in a costume is gonna do for bullying?”

Connie shrugged.

She cared because she had feelings for Steven. Of course she did. She couldn’t just expect Steven to not go on dates because she wasn’t ready to, though.

“Hey, isn’t your friend the one organizing this?”

“Yeah,” said Connie, finally looking over.

She stared at the upperclassman in front of her. He had to be at least a head taller than she was, not including his pompadour hairstyle. He had smooth, dark skin and large eyes rimmed by thick, curly eyelashes. He gave her a grin once she met his eyes. He was Indian. There were not a lot of Indians at their school. She wondered if he was...

“Hey, nice to meet you,” he said, extending his hand, “I’m Santosh Nayyar.”

Connie glared, slowly taking his hand in a shake, “Hi, I’m Connie Maheswaran. Um, did my grandma put you up to this?”

He laughed, “Yeah, kind of. You get straight to the point, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Connie, “Look, I don’t know what she told you but-”

“Hold on, before you say anything else, I know she can be a little intense. My parents are, too. That’s one of the reasons they get along. I do think you’re cute, though. And I was wondering if maybe you want to go to the dance with me? Not like a big deal, just to get to know each other!”

“I don’t think I’m-”

“To be honest, you’d be doing me a huge favor. My parents have been on my back to show some interest in a person they approve of.”

Connie stared down at her hands and clenched her fists. Maybe yielding a little bit would keep her grandmother at bay, “Just to get to know each other?”

“Yeah. And I promise, I won’t try anything crazy. No kissing, or even hand holding if you decide you don’t want to.”

Connie was quiet for several seconds, “I’m going to need to think about it.”

“Oh yeah, that’s chill. Would you mind letting me know by tomorrow?”

“Yes,” she said, “I’ve gotta go help my friend with the assembly. Would you excuse me?”

“Sure thing. Again, it was nice to meet you, Connie.”

He smiled at her and Connie found it a little hard to look away. That guy could probably make armies drop their weapons with that smile, “Yeah, you too, Santosh.”

She ran to the back of the stage, her heart pounding in her chest. She huffed, frustrated that so much stressful stuff was happening before she talked on stage.

“Hey, Connie!” Steven said, bounding up to her.

“Hello,” said Garnet, “Are your peers ready to have their worlds rocked?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, it’s gonna be amazing! Just like we rehearsed, ok guys?”

The Principal walked up to the stage and the crowd outside fell silent.

“As you know,” she said, “There was recently an incident where a boy was taken into custody for blackmailing another student with a compromising picture taken of her, without her consent. Since that time, I have been made aware by many similar stories that have happened here, right under my nose. I am deeply sorry that this has gone on for this long, and I want you to know that the staff and I are doing everything we can to rectify this situation, and hold perpetrators accountable. I want you to know that we want to do anything we can to have every student feel safe at this school regardless of sexuality, gender, abilities, creed, religion, or race.”

She paused as cheers and applause rose from the crowd, punctuated at the end with someone shouting “It’s about time!”

Principal Delaney nodded, “It is about time, thank you. Eradicating bullying at Sea City High is much easier said than done, though. And to do it we need your help. So first, we are going to have a special guest speaker, followed by a student speaker. We will then open up a panel, with both staff and local police, so that you can share your stories, questions, and suggestions about how to address the bullying issue at this school.”

The students applauded again, although Connie noted that many of them were already starting to look bored.

Meanwhile, Steven’s voice came from high up in the back stage rafters, “You ready, Garnet?”

“Lower the Steven,” she commanded.

He hopped down and bounced on her poofy square of her hair, giggling as he hugged her head. Garnet reached up and swung him down in front of her, the two of them spinning and laughing until their light overtook the entire room and a tower of flames stood before Connie. In the same motion, they launched themself into a backflip, landing in the middle of the stage in front of the students.

“Awwww yeah, it is good to be back! Oh, but I haven’t met you kids yet!” they pointed their thumb at their chest, “Sunstone here, here to talk to you about something I know you’re all concerned with!”

“When this is over?” said a boy in the crowd.

“Nope, but I like your spunk!” Sunstone pointed at the kid with a stretched arm, their fire causing him to be illuminated like a spotlight. Everyone looked at him, and he shrank back in embarrassment.

“I’m here to talk to you about bullying. Bullying is a learned behavior, which means it can be unlearned. Almost 50% of students survey report being bullied, while 20% of students bully others often. That means if you are among those being bullied, you outnumber them! You can stand up to them, talk to them, maybe even change their hearts and minds! No matter what other kids say about you, nobody deserves to be bullied!”

Sunstone shapeshifted- inciting gasps from the crowd- into a small candle with a weak flame and continued, “When I was just a little spark, people tried to tell me who I was, and what I was meant to be. You’re here at this school to shape your destiny, so don’t let any bully tell you that you are destined to be a candle flicker when you want to grow to be a bonfire!”

With a flex, Sunstone's flame exploded to engulf the entire stage. There were a few screams from the crowd, but shortly Sunstone was back to their normal form, “Don’t worry kids, I’ve got my flame heat on the low setting. They give off more light than anything else.”

Scattered applause and mumbling spread through the crowd, but soon their attention was rapt on what the strange character before them would say next.

Sunstone went on to have an open discussion with the students about different types of bullying. They mentioned how a lot of bullying was more subtle, like harassment online or rumors, but that over time it could be just as harmful as other more obvious bullying behavior. They also talked about what kind of measures could be taken. Sometimes just ignoring the bad behavior is enough to stop it. In other cases standing up to the abuser with confidence, humor, or honesty was sufficient. At other times getting trusted adults like teachers or parents was appropriate. If it was serious or persistent enough, getting the police involved would be helpful. They also touched on why people bully in the first place. Pamphlets with Sunstone’s face on them were dispersed with different resources the kids could use, including anti-bullying websites and different crisis hotlines.

“You see kids,” said Sunstone, “you can help the situation at this school whether you are being bullied, or if you’re the one doing some of the bullying. Few kids actually think of themselves as bullies, but pay close attention to how kids feel about the things you say about them, or the jokes you play. You may be hurting others deeper than you know. You may pick on others as a way of looking cool, or fitting in. You might have a lot of pain in your life, and are just acting in the way that the world has taught you to. But trying to be happy by making others miserable never really works! Make a choice today to be yourself without belittling others! Remember, bullying can be unlearned! One of the counselors available to you here at Sea City High can help you with this.”

Sunstone concluded with a salute, “Stay cool kids, don’t be a bully! Shine bright, be kind. Sunstone is signing out!”

They rocketed off the stage and into the rafters, and the crowd erupted into applause.

“Thank you, Sunstone!” said Principal over the noise of the student body, “What an honor it’s been to have such a motivational speaker! And let me tell you something, I’ve met with them several times to be sure those flames really were safe and wouldn’t set off the alarms, and they are always in character! Such commitment!”

Connie looked up at Steven and Garnet snickering in the rafters above the stage. Steven looked down at her and waved. She thought she could see him mouthing “Break a leg.”

She waved sheepishly back as her heart started pounding. Sunstone had been so captivating to watch that she’d almost forgotten that she was up next. She walked out in a daze after Principal Delaney announced her. She climbed up to the podium, gripping the sides of it to keep steady.

There was some weak claps, with some particularly loud cheering coming from the two small clusters of kids in orchestra and book club.

Connie unfolded her speech and saw “You got this, Connie!” scribbled in pink gel pen accompanied by hearts, with Steven’s distinct loopy, messy penmanship.

She smiled, grateful that she had Steven in her life no matter who they ended up at the dance with. She did the trick he told her about for public speaking, where she looked above the crowd rather than at them, and began.

“A few weeks ago,” she said, “Dexter Smith attempted to blackmail me in order for a friend of mine to do something for him. He went into the girl’s locker room, or had somebody he knew in there, take a picture of me where I was supposed to be safe. It was where I was changing, as required, for my gym class. I haven’t been able to make myself go in there and change since then. Coach Swan has been kind enough to let me change in her office, given the situation. I can’t go in that locker room to this day because of what happened, even though Dex isn’t even at this school anymore. The bully leaving this school did not take away the hurt of what happened, but what has been helping has been connecting with other people who have also been victims of his abuse, and of others like him. I’ve heard stories of people who have been abused online to the point where they stopped coming to school. People who have been coerced into doing things they didn’t want to do. Or people who felt that hurting themselves was the only way out. I would implore you, please, if you are feeling this way then please reach out to someone who can help you. And I promise, there is always someone who can help you. For my situation, I called the police. It was scary doing that because it meant I had to tell them about this humiliating thing that happened to me- and how Dex mocked and said vulgar things to me about it. I also hated the thought of more people having to see the picture, even if it was to only use it as evidence against the perpetrator. I thought maybe they would say there was nothing they could do, that it wasn’t a big deal, or even that it was my fault. I know that sounds crazy, but those are the kind of things that run through your head when something like this happens. But you know, they actually did help. I wouldn’t have felt safe coming back to this school if they had not stepped in. So I want you to know that if you are in a similar situation, please come forward and talk to someone, so that we can all feel included here at Sea City High” she paused to breathe, glad that she was done, “Thank you.”

The crowd clapped as she stepped off stage, many of the students smiling at her.

After the assembly was over, Sarah grabbed Connie in a hug “That was so brave of you! I’m so proud!”

“Aww, thank you, Sarah.”

Connie let go of her, and turned to find Steven. She wanted to see how he felt about going to the dance with Sarah, and how he felt about Santosh asking her. She also just congratulate him on how amazing the assembly went.

Unfortunately, Sarah had beat her to it.

She saw her friend with her arms wrapped around Steven, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Whoa-my-gosh Steven, where do you even find your friends? I have to learn some cosplay tricks from Sunstone. That tech was amazing! Do they use holographics for the flames? Lasers?”

Steven blushed, touching his cheek and pushing Sarah back slightly with his other hand.

Connie couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it looked like he liked her. She hated it.

She hated that her fear paralyzed her from initiating anything romantic with the boy she had liked for years. She hated that she felt so much ownership towards him when he wasn’t hers. She hated that both him and Sarah were her friends and she couldn’t just be happy for them. She hated that they were growing up, because the older she got the more she realized that she did, in fact, desperately want Steven to age at the same rate as her. Everything was getting more complicated, and she just wanted time to stop. Her mom had drilled into her that teen relationships almost never end well. Connie always thought she'd wait until college to date, but now all of that was being challenged and she hated it.

Most of all, she hated the thought of going to the dance without a date when Steven had one. If she were to go with a date, why not go with the safe option? The one that wouldn’t ruin a lifetime friendship if it went badly, and who she didn’t really think would care if she wasn’t interested?

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and knew who it was before she was finished turning. It was as if her thoughts had summoned him.

“Hey,” said Santosh, “That was really cool, what you did-”

“I’llgowithyou,” she sputtered out, before she could change her mind.

“What?”

“To the dance. Let’s go together.”

"Really? It would be my honor," he said with a playful bow, "I'll pick you up Friday at 6:30?"

"Friday at 6:30," she echoed.

"What am I doing?" she said to herself as he walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to portions of Sunstone’s presentation goes to the anti-bullying video by AHMIR, which includes a great cover of the song “Perfect” by Pink. Sunstone was really fun to write, but also harder than I anticipated. They've just had so little screen time so far, yet they have such a distinct style to encapsulate.  
> Anyways, wow, I managed to get out a chapter 2 days in a row! I ended up unexpectedly getting the day off yesterday, and spent the better part of the day just reading and writing at the park with my dog. I know Connie is being frustrating right now, but I also find her thought process completely believable. I remember being similarly angsty like this as a teenager; stuff like dances and dates can be so terrifying when you are so new to it! I'm curious to hear what you guys think will happen with Santosh.


	13. Too much to risk

Connie reached the bottom of her stairs, smoothing her dress. Before she could say anything, her dad was cupping her face with a grin spreading from ear to ear, “Oh, sweetie! Your first school dance! You look beautiful.”

“You really do,” her mother agreed.

Connie giggled and squirmed out of her dad’s arms, “Thanks, guys.”

“So you said Steven is picking you up at 6:30?” asked her mom.

“Well, actually I just said that I was getting picked up at 6:30,” Connie looked away, noting that they just assumed that she would be going to her first dance with Steven.

“Oh, are you going with your girlfriends?”

“No,” sighed Connie, bracing herself for an interrogation.

“Wait,” said her dad, “if you’re not going with Steven, or with the girls, then- WAIT, a boy asked you out?! Who is it? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Dad! Steven is a boy, too! Why wasn’t a big deal when you thought it was him?”

Her parents both shrugged.

“Well?” asked Connie.

“We’ve known Steven for years now,” said her mom, “we know his family. We trust him. If you’re just going to start hanging around a new boy he needs to go through the same vetting process!”

“Also, have you met Steven?” said her dad, “He’s about as likely to try getting fresh with you as a fluffy kitten.”

“Dad!” Connie groaned.

“Yes, another good point, Doug. Steven is, what I’ve heard you kids call a- um- ‘precious cinnamon roll?’” She said the phrase in a stilted, awkward way, “Anyways, we need to get to know a new boy before you go out with him.”

Connie pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to process the fact that the boy she actually wanted to be going to the dance with had just been compared to a pastry and a baby animal. They weren’t wholly inaccurate comparisons, but still.

The doorbell rang, and Connie’s mom rushed to answer it. Santosh stood in the doorway, flashing his brilliant teeth and holding a corsage under the arm of his tailored suit.

“Oh,” said Connie’s mother, cocking her head, “hello, it’s nice to see you. You’re the Nayyar boy, aren’t you?

“Yes, Mrs. Maheswaran,” he shook her hand and stepped inside when she motioned for him to, “Thank you so much for allowing me to take Connie out tonight. I promise to have her back by 11:00.”

“Hi, Santosh,” Connie said.

“Connie, you look stunning. I picked up a corsage for you. Would you mind if I put it on?”

“Not at all,” she said, extending her wrist.

He kneeled down, attaching the bundle of ribbon and flowers to her. She felt strange watching him do this, like she had switched bodies and was living another girl’s life. Connie Maheswaran was not the one who went to school dances at all, much less one who got asked to go by Seniors who looked like male models and brought corsages.

Connie’s dad shook Santosh’s hand as he stood up, “Nice to meet you, young man. Take good care of her.”

“I will Mr. Maheswaran. Thank you.”

He extended his elbow for Connie to take.

“Hey,” she said, “could I meet you outside? I wanted to ask my parents something.”

“Sure thing,” he said, flashing her one of those disarming smiles and stepping on the other side of the door.

“So, that’s it? You see he’s Indian and probably rich and you just implicitly trust him after all that talk about ‘vetting?’”

“Connie, watch your tone,” her mom warned.

“Sorry, m’am.”

“And no, it’s not that,” said her dad, “It’s just that he’s already been through your grandmother’s vetting process. We can’t touch that with a 10 foot pole.”

Connie’s mother embraced her, “You’re not going with him because of her, are you?”

Connie shrugged, “It’s not a big deal. It’s just one dance and we’ll probably spend most of the time just hanging out with friends there, anyway.”

“And is everything ok with Steven? Is there a reason you’re not going with him?”

Connie rolled her eyes, “Please stop grilling me, mom! You’re gonna make us late.”

Her parents insisted on getting a picture of the two of them and said goodbye a final time.

“You’re parents are sweet,” said Santosh, after they got in his red Mustang, “I should have asked them if I could take you to the dance first. Sorry about that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” said Connie, “I like answering for myself, thank you.”

He laughed, “You’re right. I’m just always trying to make my parents happy so they’ll stay off my back, and I guess I was thinking you were the same way. It seems like a full time job sometimes.”

“I can relate to that,” Connie said, “but I think my parents are happy with me. We have a really good relationship.”

“That’s great,” he said, “I guess I do with my parents, too. It seems conditional, though. Like, if I keep all the plates spinning, doing what they want, then they’ll keep loving me.”

“Dude,” said Connie, staring at him. It was a little jarring for such raw honesty to come from someone she barely knew and that seemed polished and perfect every second he was around a crowd.

“Aww, Connie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start spilling my baggage out like that. I forgot myself for a second.”

“No, it’s ok,” said Connie, “It lets me know you’re a real person. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Yeah? Huh. You’re pretty cool, little Maheswaran.”

“Thanks, same to you. So, you’re a Senior, huh? Are you staying close to home for college?”

“Nah, halfway across the country. To Nard.”

“Whoa! Nard, like Ivy League Nard?”

“Heck yeah! I can’t wait.”

“Wow, congrats. I still have no idea where I’m going to go.”

“Oh, you still have time. You’re a smart girl. I bet you could go anywhere you wanted.”

Connie laughed weakly, “Yeah, the only problem is I’m not smart enough to know what I want.”

“Truth,” he said, “I guess I want contradictory things all the time, too.”

They sat for a bit, just enjoying the sound of the soft Indie music on the radio, the roar of the road beneath them, and the countryside rushing past them as they went towards Sea City.

“Are you looking forward to the dance?” Santosh said after a few minutes.

“To tell you the truth,” she said, smoothing the tulle layer of her dress, “I kind of just feel like a kid playing dress-up.”

Santosh laughed, “That’s all it is. School dances are just older kids playing dress-up and acting grown.”

“Yes, exactly,” Connie laughed.

She smiled, surprised at how much she liked him. Not in “that” way, of course. He was just nice to talk to.

When they walked in the decorated school gym, Connie could feel stares and hushed whispers directed towards them. She was sure they were wondering what a scrawny, nerdy freshman was doing with someone like Santosh. She was also suddenly aware that they must also think of her as the one who talked at the assembly about what happened to her with Dex, and she felt a nervous sweat break out over her body.

“Connie, are you alright?” Santosh asked.

“Um, yeah,” Connie said, noticing she had stopped in the middle of the walkway, “This is just my first school dance. I’m a little nervous.”

“Oh, of course! Here,” he said, guiding her to a chair, “I’ll grab you some refreshments.”

“Thanks, Santosh.”

After a minute or so, Connie heard an enthusiastic voice coming from behind her.

“Connieeeee!” Steven said, running up to her with Sarah, “You look awesome! Sarah, do you mind if I dance a song with Connie?”

“Oh, that’s fine. We just danced for three songs, so I could use a break. He’s very good at leading, Connie!”

“I know he is,” said Connie through gritted teeth, “but I should probably at least save my first dance for my date. I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“Oh, right,” Steven looked down, “T-that’s ok.”

Santosh started walking back.

“We’ll see you later, Connie. I’m gonna go see if we can find Sandy.”

“Oh! See you…”

“Hey,” said Santosh.

Connie took her punch and snacks from him, staring after Steven.

She sat and talked with Santosh for a few minutes, and soon found herself again having a good time. Before she knew it, he was leading her to the dance floor. She was enjoying just feeling the music and spinning in the crowd, but then her eye caught Sarah’s face inches from Steven’s, her arms wrapped around him. Connie tried to focus on keeping her steps with Santosh’s, but she couldn’t look away and soon she was stepping on her date’s feet.

“Let me guess,” said Santosh, “you wished you’d come here with someone else?”

“Wow, how are you so perceptive? Also, I’m sorry!”

“Nothing to be sorry about. And I’m perceptive about it because I’m in the same boat,” he looked up at Steven, “Go talk to him. I bet he’s only here with her because he thought you didn’t want to come with him.”

“I don’t know,” she said.

“Go on! Text me if it goes South and we’ll do some more dancing to get your mind off of it.”

He winked and disappeared in the crowd. She was suddenly very aware of how off standing alone in the middle of the dance floor must looked, and she rushed to find somewhere to be alone.

In the corner of the cafeteria was a door to a storage closet that seemed ajar. She thought maybe she could just slip in there to gather her thoughts.

When she stepped in, she was met with the sight of two boys tangled in each other. Santosh was pressed against the wall, his face flushed and his perfectly pressed shirt thrown on the floor to reveal his bare chest. Connie looked over to see Stefan jumping back from her date.

“Oh,” was all she could say, “I’m just gonna go.”

“Wait, Connie!” Santosh stumbled forward, trying to zip up his pants, “Please, please don’t tell anyone! I’m not out yet! My parents would throw me out and I just-”

“Santosh, it’s ok! We’re friends now, right?”

“Well, yeah. I’d sure like us to be.”

“Cool. I don’t tell my friend’s secrets, ok?”

“Ok,” he nodded, wiping away a tear at the corner of his eye.

Connie glanced at Stefan, the two of them exchanging an uncomfortable nod, and she closed the door behind her.

She headed straight to the bathroom, still needing to be somewhere to clear her head, now even more than before.

She stared at herself in the mirror, as the muffled base from the music outside shook the inside of her ribs.

“Why did I have to make this so complicated?” she asked herself, “Why didn’t I just tell him I wanted to come with him?”

In the mirror behind her, she could see Sarah stumble in clutching her face.

“Ow, ow, owwww,” she groaned.

“Sarah!” Connie placed her hand on her friend’s shoulders and guided her to the sink, “What’s wrong?”

“My contacts are hurting! Can you get my contact solution out of my purse?”

“Yeah!”

Connie shifted around in her bag, freezing when she noticed what she thought was a wrapped piece of candy at first, “A condom, huh? High hopes for your first date with Steven, right?”

“What? Oh yeah, my cousin made made me take it. She said it’s always good to be prepared, but I wasn’t planning on anything like that.”

“Oh, ok,” Connie felt herself sigh in relief, and handed Sarah her contact case and solution.

Sarah plucked one of the lenses out of her eyes and then paused in front of the mirror, furrowing her brow.

“What’s wrong?” asked Connie.

Sarah said nothing, but began alternating placing her hand over the eye that had the contact and the one that didn’t.

“Sarah?”

She plucked the other contact out, put them away, and then turned to stare at Connie, “Oh my goodness, I can see each individual eyebrow hair on you.”

“Whoa,” said Connie, backing up a bit, “did someone spike the punch, Sarah?”

“No, it’s just- I can see! Without my contacts! Is that normal? Can people just spontaneously get perfect vision?”

“You can- oh,” realization dawned on Connie.

“It was so weird, I was dancing with Steven and then I- well I…” she trailed off and blushed.

“Did you kiss him?”

“Connie, listen I leaned in and-”

Before Sarah finished, Connie had stomped out of the bathroom to find Steven.

She located him by the punch bowl, smiling as he chatted with Sandy.

Connie grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the back door.

“Whoa!” Steven stumbled back as he started to follow her.

“Excuse us, Sandy,” Connie said with as much politeness as she could muster while dragging someone behind her.

“Connie, what’s this about?”

“Courtyard. I’ll ask you in the courtyard.”

Once the were outside, Connie wheeled on Steven, angry tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

“C-connie? What’s wrong? Did that Santosh guy do something to you? Tell me where he is, I’ll-”

“No, you did!”

“What?”

“I mean- you didn’t do anything to me, but I’m still upset by it. I just- UGH,” she threw her hands up and started pacing in front of him.

“Connie,” he stepped in front of her, “please, whatever I did to hurt you, I’m sorry. Take a deep breath and help me understand what’s wrong.”

“I came so close, so many times, but I held back. But then she kisses you after one dance?”

“What? You think I kissed Sarah?”

“Well, she was just in the bathroom freaking out about her perfect vision. Sound familiar, Mr. Magic Spit?”

She hated how mean her tone was, but she couldn’t hold it in.

“Connie, I didn’t kiss her.”

“You didn’t?”

“No. She was getting really close to my face, so maybe she was about to, but I stopped her. Anyways, she had just put on this perfume that was really strong. I ended up sneezing in her face! I was pretty embarrassed. She ran to the bathroom, I assumed because I got snot on her or something, so I said I’d meet her by the punch bowl.”

“Oh,” was all Connie could say, feeling a little silly. It was funny how much that paralleled when her vision was healed from drinking a juice box after him (also right before she was about to kiss him).

“Would it-” Steven said quietly, “would it have bothered you that much if she did kiss me? I thought you didn’t care. I thought you wanted me to go with someone else so that you could go with Santosh.”

His arms were folded and he looked down at the ground. He looked like he was about to cry.

“Oh Steven,” Connie unfolded his arms and held his hands in hers, “I lied. I care a lot. Sorry about that. And I can guarantee that Santosh and I don’t like each other as anything other than friends.”

“Really? But he’s so cool. And tall. And pretty. And your grandma likes him. And also he’s 100% human. And he got that cool wrist flower that compliments your eyes.”

“Well, none of that matters because he’s not you.”

“Oh, ok. Why did you act like you didn’t care, though?”

“I wanted to not care. I tried to make myself not care,” she sat on the stone wall that led to the garden and patted the spot beside her. Steven hopped up, sitting so close to her their hips were touching.

“Did you know,” asked Connie, “that my mom married her high school sweetheart?”

“Aww!” said Steven, “Her and your dad went to high school together? That’s so cute.”

“No, she met my dad while she was in grad school.”

“Oh, so that means-”

“Yeah. My dad is her second marriage.”

“Ok. What does that have to do with us?”

“The truth is, I didn’t even know my mom had another marriage before you and I started hanging out. I guess she saw the way I talked about you and figured I was heading the same direction as her. He was in a garage band, and was kind of a party animal, and she liked him because he was everything my grandma didn’t want for her. They ended up eloping.”

Steven gasped, “Mrs. Maheswaran had a rebellious phase?!”

Connie giggled, “I know. Who would have thought, right? Anyways, she told me that even though they loved each other, it wasn’t enough to keep them together. They weren’t mature enough to be married. Their interests and their friends changed, and eventually they barely knew each other. They fought all the time about stupid stuff, and they could barely stand to be in the same room as each other after three years. They became civil after some counseling, but it was clear that they didn’t want the same things anymore. My mom wanted to become a doctor, travel the world, and raise a family, and he just wanted to keep living the same life as when they were 18. So, they got a divorce.”

Steven stared intently at her, waiting for her to tell him why this was relevant to their situation. Connie sighed, “Steven, she spent years drilling into me information about how the rational part of my brain wouldn’t be fully formed until I’m 25, and the statistics about how many high school relationships fail. And I value what we have too much to risk being a statistic. Things feel safer with you just as my best friend. And when I’m ready, I might like to be something more, but I don’t want to hold you back if you want to start dating now.”

Her heart thumped in her chest as she waited for his response. She looked down at both of their feet kicking in the air while they dangled up on the stone wall.

“Connie,” he said, “I don’t care about dating right now.”

“You don’t? What about Sarah?”

“I like Sarah, but I think we’re better as friends. It kind of freaked me out when she tried to kiss me. I mean, she’s not you.”

Connie smiled at her own words which were reflected back at her.

“It’s just that,” she started, “I used to not think about all the things we did so naturally. Things like holding hands, or sitting close together like we are now, or even sleeping next to each other.”

Steven blushed, probably recalling the implications his dad explained that “sleeping together” had.

“But now that we’re here, all these other kids attach these labels with those things- labels that have expectations that I’m not ready for.”

“Well, it’s none of their business. I don’t care what they think!”

“Steven, I don’t know what to say.”

“Then let me say something,” Steven said, standing up, “I always want you in my life, Connie, no matter what. Do you want that with me?”

“Yes,” Connie said. There was no hesitation in her response, no doubt, and no thought as to what that implied for their future.

“Then that’s all that matters,” he grabbed her hand, “People will always try to put you in a box. I spent most of my life with people telling me that I was my mom, or that I should be like her. But I’m just me. And we’re just us. And we can hold hands, and be best friends, train together, fuse together, and nap together, but also not be ‘dating.’ And that’s ok. We’ll figure that stuff out in our own style, and in our own time.”

“Steven,” she said, “That sounds perfect. It feels good, knowing that we’re on the same page.”

He smiled up at her, in that adoring way that she loved so much. She maintained her eye contact, seeing if he would break away, but he didn’t.

“Steven, can I try something?” she said, tilting her head a little closer to his.

His eyes widened, and he nodded. Connie moved closer, but stopped when their foreheads touched, hoping she wasn’t making things needlessly complicated again by doing this. Steven was the one who brushed his lips just barely on hers, and that was enough invitation for her to go the rest of the way. 

Their lips met, and there was nothing complicated about it. It was just as natural as fusing or holding hands came to them. Connie felt like her whole body was on fire as she kissed him, and she ran one of her hands through his thick hair to pull him closer. He let out a soft, surprised moan, but responded by kissing her in more ernest, gently running his tongue on her bottom lip in a way that felt much better than it reasonably should have.

They broke away, each trying to assess what the other one was thinking. Connie felt goofy with endorphins, and she began to laugh, touching her lips still fresh with Steven’s taste. Soon he was laughing too, and they melted into each other until Stevonnie was the only one who stood in the courtyard, looking up at the stars.

Stevonnie twirled in delight, throwing their hands up and laughing uncontrollably. The post-kiss hormones of both of them thrown into one body created a dizzying sense of euphoria. When they were finally able to collect themselves, tears streamed down their cheeks and their sides hurt.

They looked down to admire their fused outfit. Their hair was braided in the way that Connie’s was, wearing a suit jacket with a long, asymmetrical tulle skirt. For a while, they just swayed to the beat of the music outside.

“How,” they said, “have we fused a million times and never tried THAT before? That was pretty awesome. Still not dating, though, of course. Right, we were just trying something out.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. I plan on updating this story on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. I'm really interested in exploring Steven's dynamic with Connie and her family, as well as silly stuff like the Gems at PTA meetings, Sunstone conducting motivational school assemblies, and Stevonnie sneaking into Prom. Stay tuned!


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